A 22-year-old prison officer who police say reported for duty with 279 grammes of ganja in his possession was yesterday remanded to prison after being arraign-ed at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The allegation against Akeem Vyphuis is that on July 14 at the Camp Street Prison, he had in his possession 279 grammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
The man, who has been a prison officer for the past three years, pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
His attorney Pamela De Santos told the court that according to her instructions, the alleged illegal substance was not found on her client but rather in a bag in a corner of a room at the prison.
According to her, Vyphuis was attempting to investigate the contents of the bag when he was approached by another prison officer who saw him close to it.
De Santos said that an inspection of the contents of the bag revealed a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis.
It was later weighed and amounted to that mentioned in the charge. The matter was later reported and investigated after which Vyphuis was arrested and charged, she said.
However, the prosecution told the court that their facts were different. Prosecutor Bharat Mangru said that on the day in question, Vyphuis reported for work via the main entrance of the prison compound and was shortly after seen by Cadet Officer Cameron throwing five parcels on the ground. Mangru said that the illegal substance was in those five parcels.
De Santos was unsuccessful in securing her client’s pretrial liberty after the prosecution successfully objected on the grounds that she failed to advance special reasons.
Vyphuis was then remanded to prison. The matter will be called again on July 22 for report and fixture for trial.
