A Mabaruma resident was yesterday refused bail after he denied having in his possession a quantity of cannabis which police said he was carrying in a five-gallon bucket.
Marlon Joaquin, 37, pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on April 18, at Cuyuni River, he had in his possession 1.584 kilogrammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
Attorney Peter Hugh made an application for bail to be granted when the case was called before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 1.
He noted that Joaquin had no previous conviction, nor pending matters.
The police alleged that a patrol approached Joaquin, who had just arrived in a speed boat with a five-gallon bucket in his possession. A search was conducted and a brown transparent parcel along with two plastic bags containing the cannabis were found in the bucket.
The prosecution asked for bail to be refused since no special reason was provided to the court.
Meanwhile, miner Gabriel Thom, who was allegedly found by the police with a plastic bag in his hand containing 467 grammes of cannabis, was also remanded to prison yesterday.
Thom was also arrested at Cuyuni River, where police say a patrol found him with the drug during a search.
He too pleaded not guilty to the charge of possession of narcotics for trafficking when he appeared before the Chief Magistrate.
Both matters were transferred to the Bartica Magistrate’s Court for April 29.
