A miner accused of being a marijuana trafficker was on Tuesday remanded to prison by acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
The allegation against Keith Primo is that on January 13, at Itaballi Landing, Mazaruni, in the North West District, he had in his possession 287 grammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
Primo, 40, of 30 John Alley, Wismar, Linden denied the charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking when it was read to him at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
Police Corporal Jairam Luckhai told the court that the accused, at the time the drugs were discovered, was travelling in motor vehicle GFF 5782, which was stopped and searched by police ranks at the Itaballi Landing.
According to Luckhai, when the vehicle arrived at the Itaballi Landing checkpoint, ranks from the Bartica Police Station, who were conducting routine checks, asked the five occupants of the vehicle to disembark and remove their bags from the tray of the vehicle so the search could be conducted.
During the search, the corporal said that the police found a Fernleaf milk tin in a bag which Primo identified as his.
The police were suspicious about the presence of the milk tin, Luckhai said, and they then searched its contents and uncovered a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems concealed in a black plastic bag.
Luckhai said that the accused was told that it was suspected that the contents of the bag were the illegal drug cannabis.
The police later escorted him to the Bartica Police Station, where the suspected cannabis was weighed in his presence. The accused was told about the offence committed and he admitted to it, the prosecutor told the court, and then he was arrested and charged.
Defence counsel Adrian Thompson challenged the allegations related by the prosecution and tried vigorously but failed to secure his client’s pre-trial liberty. Thompson argued that several occupants were in the vehicle at the time of the alleged find and questioned why they were not charged as well. According to him, his client never owned any bag containing any illegal substance.
Thompson said he found it strange that anyone would own such a bag knowing that such an amount of drugs can lead to a term of three to five years imprisonment. He added that his client complained to him of being physically assaulted by the police; an approach he believed they used to get his client to say that the bag and its contents belonged to him. These issues, the lawyer argued, amounted to special circumstances for considering bail.
Thompson noted that Primo, a father of five, is the sole breadwinner of his household and had no antecedents.
After counsel’s submissions, however, Luckhai objected to the bail application, contending that no special circumstances were advanced by the defence.
“Special circumstances must relate to the offence and not the offender,” Luckhai emphasized.
Primo was subsequently remanded to prison but the Magistrate also ordered the prosecution to investigate the alleged assault meted out to him by the police.
The matter was transferred to the Bartica Magistrates’ Court for tomorrow.
