A woman who was held for trying to smuggle a large quantity of cannabis into the country through the Ogle International Airport has been remanded after a court heard that she told ranks that narcotic was going to be used to make wine.
But when Vanessa Stephens made her first appearance yesterday at the Georgetown Magis-trates’ Courts, she denied that on February 23, at the Ogle International Airport, she had 576 grammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking in her possession. It is alleged also that while in lawful custody at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters, Stephens refused to give her fingerprints. She pleaded guilty to this charge when Chief Magis-trate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry read it to her. She explained that she refused to be fingerprinted after being assaulted by the police at the airport. Stephens also brought it to the court’s attention that she wasn’t fed since being taken into custody and she didn’t have access to any of her personal belongings.
The prosecution’s case is that at about 4:45pm, Stephens was an incoming passenger at the Ogle International Airport on a LIAT flight, which arrived from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. After her arrival at the airport, police say a search was conducted on her luggage, during which a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems, suspected to be cannabis, was found. When questioned, Stephens allegedly told the ranks “is a lil bush” she brought to make wine.
Stephens, who was unrepresented, was subsequently remanded to prison and the matter was transferred to the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court for Friday.
