Two persons who allegedly had a quantity of cannabis and cocaine in their possession for the purpose of trafficking were remanded to prison last Wednesday after the police were tipped off about a Lethem transaction and staked out the area.
This was told to the court when they appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson in Georgetown.
Reagon Singh and Deborah Martin were jointly charged with two counts of the offence which stated that on October 3 at Lethem, Central Rupununi, they had in their possession 3,617 grammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
On the same day also, it is alleged that the two had in their possession 29 grammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
The defendants both pleaded not guilty to the charges of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking when they were read to them by the acting chief magistrate.
Attorney-at-law Adrian Thompson who represented the duo made an application for reasonable bail on the grounds that the circumstances under which the illegal substances were allegedly found on his clients fall under the category of special circumstances.
In his application for bail to be granted, Thompson further added that his clients have no previous antecedents, pose no risk of flight, have fixed addresses and have been cooperating fully with the police in their investigations.
The prosecution argued, however, that the attorney failed to show to the court the special circumstances which would qualify the defendants to be admitted to bail.
The prosecution told the court that on the day in question the police received certain information that Singh was transporting narcotics from Georgetown to Lethem. Police in Lethem were contacted and they intercepted Singh.
The prosecutor further stated that the police saw Singh handing over several packages to Martin, a vendor. When the woman was approached by the police, the prosecutor said, she ran and hid in the bushes but was caught later.
When given a chance to respond, Singh told the court that he had no idea what was in the packages since someone in Georgetown just gave them to him to be delivered to Martin.
Meanwhile, when given a chance to respond Martin declined.
The lawyer failed in his attempt to secure bail for his clients and the two were subsequently remanded to prison. Their matter was transferred to the Lethem Magistrate’s Court for December 1.
