A LONDON man has been jailed for six years for trying to import heroin after being threatened over an e-scooter debt.
Fabio Candido Simoes (35) tried to smuggle heroin worth up to £40,000 into Jersey to clear a £3,000 debt he owed to a customer of his shop in London after an e-scooter was stolen from the premises, the court was told, and the customer had agreed to forgive the debt if Candido Simoes brought 61.32 grams of heroin to Jersey.
Crown Advocate Lauren Taylor, prosecuting, described how Simoes had told Customs officers at Elizabeth Terminal that he was in Jersey for meetings with local e-scooter suppliers and was due to stay with a man he did not know called “Fred”.
But officers became suspicious after his story was inconsistent and he admitted previously using cannabis.
The local business he mentioned told Customs officers that they did not have any meetings with him – and Candido Simoes changed his story to say he was on holiday and was planning on “popping into” the business.
He was taken to the Hospital for X-rays and admitted to Customs officers in interview: “I’ve not been honest with you – I do have something inside me. It’s heroin and it’s 63 grams, I think. I just want to get it out.”
The package of heroin turned out to contain 61.32 grams of the drug, at a purity of 18%. Crown Advocate Taylor said that if sold in Jersey in one-gram amounts, this would be worth between £21,000 and £27,000. Broken down further into 0.1 gram portions, it could be worth between £30,000 and £40,000.
In interview, he told Customs officers that he owned an e-scooter workshop in London and that when a vehicle was stolen its owner threatened him with violence.
Candido Simoes said the customer had then introduced him to a second man, who threatened to shoot him and burn his shop down – unless he brought the heroin to Jersey.
He booked a ferry for the following day, and travelled to Jersey from Poole.
Crown Advocate Taylor asked the court for a six-year sentence and a deportation order.
Advocate Sarah Dale, defending, told the court that Candido Simoes “stands here and feels the greatest regret”.
In a letter to the court, he had said he had seen how heroin could ruin people’s lives.
She further argued that even though the court did not normally take threats into account in mitigation, on this occasion, the threats were not related to drugs or a drugs debt. Candido Simoes did, however, get credit for an early guilty plea and for co-operating with Customs and Immigration.
The Deputy Bailiff, Robert MacRae, told him: “You say that you agreed to import heroin into Jersey by the reason of threats that you received, which have been detailed to us this morning. That is no mitigation and there are good policy reasons for the court holding that to be the case.
“Heroin is a pernicious and extremely dangerous drug.”
