BY ROMINAH FAKA
Court has summoned a man in a drug bust case to attend court on Thursday 21 March at 9am.
Beatrice Umea and Etekia Kauai are charged with attempting to export a prohibited item. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Both did not attend the previous hearing on the case and court issued a summons for them to do so.
However, yesterday Mr Kauai did not turn up, and court instructed both prosecution and investigators to summon Kauai in the next hearing, which is today.
The two accused are charged in relation to an allegation on June 19, 2019 at the Henderson International Airport.
Prosecution alleged the accused packed eight packets of marijuana inside a speaker in 20 cm by 20 cm plastic bags. This was taken to the airport, where accused Umea was on check-in duty for Solomon Airlines.
It was further alleged that Kauai took the package to Umea and she accepted the package as unaccompanied luggage, but tagged the package to a passenger whom she had already checked in.
When the package went through the screening, suspicious arose, the speaker was unscrewed and the packets of Marijuana were found, before it was loaded onto the flight.
The police then arrested both the accused and charge them jointly for one count of attempting to export a dangerous drug under the Dangerous Drugs Act.
Public Prosecutor Steward Tonowane is appearing for the Crown.
