Two men handed a total of 17 years in prison for importing class A drugs

Filipe Christopher Smith, 30, and Lucas Corey Cabral Le Sauvage, 23, were charged jointly with being knowingly concerned in the importation of a class A rated synthetic cannabinoid, and herbal cannabis. Smith admitted the offences while Le Sauvage, who denied them, was found guilty of both at trial in November.

Le Sauvage, pictured right, also admitted failing to disclose the pincode to his mobile phone to law enforcement.

The court heard how the two men had arrived in Guernsey by ferry in March last year. Smith was driving a black Seat Leon while Le Sauvage was in the passenger seat.

When customs officers looked in the boot, the spare wheel appeared to be too big for the aperture in which it was housed.

A sealed packet alongside it contained a hard pink substance. When the tyre was X-rayed it showed there were multiple packages within it. They included a further 18 pink edible candy bars which contained the class A substance THC. They had a total weight of 768.21g. There was also 143.95g of the class B-rated herbal cannabis.

Le Sauvage said he lived locally while Smith said he planned to move here from Birmingham. They had travelled to the UK together eight days previously.

Both denied that there were drugs in the vehicle. Mobile phones belonging to both men were seized. Smith agreed to disclose the pincode to his, while Le Sauvage refused.

Analysis of Smith’s phone showed he had messaged his girlfriend to say that he had ‘28 edibles’ and that he was risking everything in order to make a living for them. He had also done a Google search to try and establish what class of drug the edibles were rated in Guernsey. Some data could be recovered from Le Sauvage’s phone which included a video of what appeared to be the cannabis found in the boot.

Le Sauvage admitted in interview that he knew the cannabis was in the car but not the edibles. He said he had just wanted to get home as he had no money and had lost his bank card. He was not prepared to risk not getting home for what in the UK would have been classed as '£100 of weed'.

Smith said he had known Le Sauvage for five months while Le Sauvage said they had been friends for only a few days.

Fingerprints of neither man were found on the items in the boot but some did match a contact whose name was later recovered from Smith’s phone.

Le Sauvage had previous convictions, the last in November 2023 which included cannabis possession. Smith had an extensive record, mainly for offences of violence that went back to 2009. He had appeared before a Jamaican Court in 2014 for a drug exportation offence.

For Le Sauvage, Advocate Candy Fletcher said her client had made no financial gain from the importation and had not been involved in the planning.

He realised that his decision to go to the UK with such little money was not wise and he had only been trying to get back to the island. He had not revealed the pincode to his mobile phone as he thought at the time that it was not relevant and he did not want to get any of his friends in to trouble.

For Smith, pictured above, Advocate Samuel Steel said his client had co-operated with the investigation and provided the pincode to his mobile phone which had helped to incriminate him. His decision making was affected by his drug use. He had intended to sell the cannabis for £25 per gram but had learned while in prison that this was unrealistic since the introduction of medical cannabis in Guernsey.

In the court’s sentencing remarks, Judge Catherine Fooks said the court considered that the men’s level of involvement in the enterprise had been about the same.

‘You both know that there can be no alternative to a sentence of immediate custody today and that it will be for a long time,’ she said.

Both had known that the drugs were in the vehicle and that some were class A.

An element of deterrence to others was an important part of the sentence. Smith got full credit for his early guilty pleas and his sentencing had been delayed by Le Sauvage’s denials.

Le Sauvage will serve nine and a half years for the THC importation and two and a half years concurrent for the cannabis.

Smith’s terms were six and half years and two years concurrent respectively.

Le Sauvage had one year consecutive added to his sentence for withholding the pincode to his phone.

Forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and the men’s mobile phones was ordered.

The car had already been surrendered.