A couple was yesterday remanded to prison on a cocaine possession charge after a court was told that one of them tried to flush the drug down a sink while the other held narcotics agents in conversation.
The charge against Ron Reid and Sheniza Bacchus states that they were in possession of 70 grammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
They both denied the charge when it was read to them by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Attorney Peter Hugh, who represented the common-law husband and wife, argued that the ranks could not prove that his clients were in possession of the drug since other persons share the home. He added that Bacchus, a mother of three children, was in front of the house and there was no evidence to link the illegal item with her.
But Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Oswald Massiah told the court that on March 2, CANU agents went to the home of the defendants to carry out a search. Upon their arrival, he said, they were greeted by Bacchus, who held a conversation with them. But, he added, the ranks became suspicious after they heard a sudden flow of water inside the kitchen of the house. Upon their intervention, the prosecutor said the ranks discovered Reid in the kitchen with four pellets suspected to be cocaine inside their sink.
Massiah objected to bail, saying no special reason was given by the couple’s lawyer. He also said the other occupants of the home where the drugs were found are the couple’s children.
After listening to Massiah, the lawyer was prompted to further argue the innocence of his clients, stressing that even if the facts presented by the prosecutor were believable, there was no evidence to prove that they were in possession of the drug.
However, the magistrate refused to grant bail and the couple was remanded to prison until March 11, when the case will be called before Magistrate Judy Latchman.
