Hamilton woman stopped with cannabis in a suitcase while trying to enter Bermuda

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A Hamilton woman is in custody over a drug trafficking accusation in Bermuda.

Sandra Marrero-Guzman, 37, was accused by the Crown of conspiring with others to bring cannabis into Bermuda and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

The 37-year-old was stopped at the LF Wade Airport on June 26 of last year after arriving on an Air Canada flight from Toronto.

Customs officers scanned a bag under her name and found several irregularities, including 29 heat-sealed packages containing nearly 13 grams of cannabis with a street value of almost $1.8 million, per The Royal Gazette.

Earlier this week, a Supreme Court jury in Bermuda heard that 57 fingerprints were found on the multiple heat-sealed bags containing the drugs.

Det. Constable Natalia Smith of the Bermuda Police Service (BPS) said evidence of the fingerprints had been sent to a fingerprint expert for analysis.

Det. Smith detailed her duties during the incident when she photographed evidence in the case.

The jury was shown photographs of a black hard-case suitcase that contained the heat-sealed packages, Marrero-Guzman’s Canadian passport, a boarding pass in the defendant’s name and $2,320 in cash.

Smith told the jury that the heat-sealed packages were processed for analysis, where fingerprints were later observed. Smith submitted the photographs to a forensic expert for analysis.

Crown attorney Jamal Bridgewater said Marrero-Guzman’s fingerprints were sent to Interpol by Canadian authorities using the automated fingerprint identification system.

The prints were analyzed but did not match Marrero-Guzman.

A rideshare meeting

The alleged incident began when the defendant was given a trip to Bermuda by a man named ‘Jay,’ whom she met while sharing an Uber ride. They later began communicating over WhatsApp.

Marrero-Guzman said a friend of Jay’s offered her a ride to the airport and gave her a suitcase to take on the trip. per The Royal Gazette.

She was told another ‘friend’ would pick up the suitcase at her accommodation in Bermuda. Marrero-Guzman thought the suitcase was filled with clothes but did not check. She had her personal carry-on, which contained two swimsuits and three dresses.

Marrero-Guzman admitted that she had a lot of debt from school and did not have much in the way of savings.

She now says that Jay saw her as “an opportunity” to use her.

Marrero-Guzman has denied all charges. The trial continues.

ganderson@postmedia.com