Chief inspector denies having sold confiscated shrimp

Chief Inspector Robert R, former commander of the Western Region, on Monday denied in court that he had sold shrimp that had been confiscated. He claimed that he has always done his job in good faith and suspects others of plotting against him. He explained that the shrimp were already decaying and that he therefore could not give them to social institutes. He therefore had the shrimp destroyed by dumping them. A witness claimed that he had paid the defendant $300 and $100 for shrimp that had been confiscated. The chief inspector who had confessed to the examining magistrate that he had sold the shrimp explained that he had made a mistake when confessing to the crime. “I was tired that day and everybody was in a hurry to leave the building.” A police officer told the court that Robert R had instructed him to write a false report saying that the confiscated had been dumped while they had in fact been sold.

Judge Siegline Wijnhard pointed out that the policeman’s statement and the defendant’s confession are similar. Robert R explained that when he was assigned to restore law and order along the backtrack, people resisted because they knew that they would not be able to make money with him as chief inspector. Shortly before he had received word that he would be relieved of his duties as regional commander, he also received a tip that 300 kilos of cocaine was going to be transported from Nickerie to Paramaribo. The name of his predecessor was also mentioned. RR claimed that he immediately launched an investigation. Several smugglers claimed that they had been caught red-handed with shrimp but that the defendant had promised to release them if they gave him money. The defendant strongly denied the accusations. The trial will resume of December 12.