(NEWSC)) A tourist has been left to find his own way back home after the cruise ship he arrived on left for New York City without him while he was in shackles for drugs.
On the afternoon of January 27, Bernard Benko was observed by police on foot patrol in Heritage Quay acting suspiciously after purchasing a ‘shack shack’ souvenir from a vendor.
He was approached by the cops who told him they suspected that he was in possession of an illegal substance. They then asked to search him and he obliged.
Upon searching his person, the officers found a transparent bag with a white powdery substance in one of his pockets.
When questioned, he admitted that the bag contained cocaine which he bought from someone.
The visitor was then arrested and charged with possession of one gram of cocaine valued at $35.
But while Benko was in a cell at the St John’s Police Station, his wife and kids continued their voyage to New York City on a vessel that left Antigua at 6pm that same day.
The defendant was brought to court yesterday to answer to the charge and the magistrate immediately called the investigator to the stand and scolded him and his superiors for not using his “discretion” or “common sense” to have the man brought to court before the boat left.
Nevertheless, the man was fined $100 and he now has to find a way home.
