A 19-year-old man yesterday made a court appearance before Magistrate Judy Latchman, charged with having over 2 kilogrammes of cannabis and cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Lorenzo Peters denied the allegation which stated that on November 15 at Devil’s Landing, Cuyuni River, he had in his possession 2013 grammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
He also denied the charge which stated that he had in his possession 129 grammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
In making a bail application, Peters’ attorney, stated that his client did not have knowledge nor physical possession of the narcotics when they were discovered. The lawyer explained that Peters, who is in the business of operating and renting boat engines, was sought out by a man who hired him to transport him and his goods to a shop in the interior and he agreed.
In the process of providing the service, Peters’ attorney stated, his client stopped at Devil’s Landing where he and his passenger stayed for one night. When morning came, police officers reportedly approached Peters and requested to do a search of the hotel room, at this point of time, Peters was the only person present as the other man had already left the room. The search unearthed nothing and Peters proceeded to the landing to tend to the boat engine.
The lawyer further explained that when his client got to the landing, he saw the man who had hired him, but the man ran away when he saw the police officers. A search was then conducted on the boat and it was there they discovered the narcotics mentioned in the charge, hidden amongst the bags reportedly belonging to the man. As a result of the discovery, Peters reportedly informed the officers that the goods were not his, but that he was just hired to transport the man and his articles to an interior location.
Additionally, the lawyer stated, there is evidence to show that his client’s story is credible as the hotel room at Devil’s Landing was booked in the name of the other man.
On the other hand, Police Prosecutor Kerry Bostwick objected to bail being granted stating that based on the information he received, Peters was arrested and charged after police on patrol around the Devil’s Landing area approached the man after they observed several large packages in the boat. A search of the boat unearthed 6 transparent parcels in a black bag suspected to contain cannabis as well as a grey and black haversack containing what was suspected to be cocaine.
As a result of the discovery, Peters was arrested and taken into custody where the drugs were weighed in from of him. Bostwick further cited counsel’s lack of special reasons as grounds for bail to be refused.
Magistrate Judy Latchman refused bail and ordered Peters to return to court on December 7 before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.
