Two men were yesterday remanded to prison by a city magistrate after they denied having in their possession a quantity of cocaine.
Avishkar Rambarran of Lot 93 Enmore North and Michael Sukhoo of Lot 81 Courbane Park, Annandale were taken before Magistrate Sunil Scarce who read a charge which stated that the two on June 8, at Grove, had in their possession 254 grammes of cocaine (equivalent to 0.55 pounds) for trafficking.
Subsequent to the charge being read both men entered a plea of not guilty.
According to the prosecutors facts, on June 8 about 3:30 am. the defendants were stopped by the police and a search conducted on their vehicle PMM 1746. During the search, the prosecutor added, the police found the illicit substance in the glove compartment of the vehicle. The court heard that the men begged the officers to free them adding that it was just a little hustle they were trying to make.
This story was not supported by the defendant’s attorney Patrice Henry who said that prior to being arrested on Thursday, the men were subjects of an attempted kidnapping and hijacking. These events, according to the attorney took place on June 2, after the accused were stopped by five men, who attempted to take possession of the car they were in. The five men, he noted, were unsuccessful since his clients removed the car keys and threw them onto the road. The matter, he noted, was reported to the Vigilance Police Station.
The attorney then told the court, that in relation to the charge at hand, when his clients were stopped they were told that their vehicle was involved in a robbery. His clients, he said, allowed the officers to search the vehicle, which yielded nothing. Sometime later the duo was taken to the Grove police station where another search was done and not in their presence. It was this second search, according to the attorney, that caused officers to claim that the drugs were found concealed in their vehicle.
Attorney Henry, requested that his clients be granted bail in relation to the charge.
Magistrate Scarce, however, denied bail and remanded the men to jail. The matter will be called again on June 26.
