Tour bus driver on cocaine charges offered $1.5m bail
Published:Friday | January 17, 2025 | 12:07 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
Christopher Keddo, the Westmoreland-based tour bus operator who was arrested on January 6 after the police allegedly found 17 parcels of cocaine in his vehicle, was offered bail in the sum of $1.5 million when he appeared in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday.
Keddo, 51, who is of a Little London address, is charged with possession of, dealing in, and taking preparatory steps to export 38 pounds of cocaine. He is also charged with conspiracy to export cocaine, trafficking cocaine, and possession of criminal property.
The court was told that, on January 6, the police, acting on information, went to a location near a resort in Rose Hall, St James, where they saw Keddo sitting near his bus. A search of the bus uncovered 17 parcels of a substance, which was later identified as cocaine.
Keddo reportedly told the police that he was supposed to deliver the items to a location in Trelawny. Following this, he was arrested and charged.
In applying for bail on Keddo’s behalf, his attorney, Chrishana Fregenette, told presiding parish judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce that the defendant was disputing the charges laid against him.
“Your honour, I have heard the allegations as they were read out by the clerk, and my client denies the allegations as read. We have different instructions, and as such we intend to proceed to a trial,” said Fregenette. “We can find suitable sureties, your honour, and any conditions that are imposed by the court, he will abide by them. We ask that bail be granted in a reasonable sum.”
The court was also told that, despite initial reports stating that the weight of the cocaine was 42 pounds, it was in fact 38 pounds. Additionally, it was disclosed that the forensic certificate and a number of statements are outstanding from the case file.
Grant-Pryce subsequently offered Keddo bail in the sum of $1.5 million with up to two sureties, and ordered him to report to the police three days each week. She also instructed him to submit his fingerprints to the police A stop order was also imposed to prevent him from leaving the country.
The matter will be mentioned again on March 31.
Keddo’s arrest took place two days prior to the January 8 seizure of $80 million worth of cocaine at an apartment complex in Charlton Court, St Andrew, for which property manager Allen Patrick Constable was arrested and charged. The day after that drug bust, on January 9, St Elizabeth farmer George Scott was arrested and charged after a police team reportedly found 2.3 kilogrammes of cocaine hidden inside a speaker box in his vehicle.