Edwards Joseph, 41, called ‘Eddoe Man’ of Sand Hills and of ‘C’ Field, Sophia in Georgetown and his two employees; Hadlee McKenzie, 19, and a 16-year-old both of Sand Hills were charged with the offences when they appeared before Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo at the New Amsterdam Court.
Reports are that on February 20, Joseph had in his possession 150 pounds of compressed marijuana, while he and the other two defendants were reportedly caught cultivating a marijuana field.
During the midmorning raid, police pounced on the suspects after trekking two miles through a bushy trail and apprehended them.
The police destroyed 4,000 marijuana plants that were two to four feet in length on a two-acre plot as well as bags of manure, dismantled two tarpaulin tents and seized articles including chemicals, a Stihl motor-blower and two spray cans from the fields.
A house on the western side of the river reportedly occupied by Joseph was searched and the compressed marijuana was discovered as well as two measuring scales and a quantity of fertilizer.
The defendants were represented by attorney-at-law Ramesh Rajkumar who applied for bail to be granted for the 16-year-old. The lawyer also requested an early date for trial for his clients who were not required to plead.
Assistant Superintendant of Police Fazil Karimbaksh, prosecuting, submitted that bail should be refused owing to the seriousness of the offences. The trio is scheduled to return to court on March 22.
Meanwhile, a similar exercise was also conducted simultaneously in the Canje Creek but upon seeing the police a few persons abandoned a boat with an outboard engine and escaped.
The police were able to take possession of the engine, but not the boat.
