Three men, who were allegedly busted during a drug deal on Wednesday by the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), were yesterday remanded to prison on a joint charge of possession of cocaine for trafficking.
It is alleged that Aundre Singh, Clifford Gouveia and Oneal Charan on October 3rd at Rupert Craig Highway had in their possession 5.582 kilogrammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
All of the accused denied the allegation.
Singh’s attorney, Latchmie Rahamat, in an application for bail, told the court that the alleged narcotic was not found in his possession but was found in the vehicle of a third party, who was also charged for the offence. Rahamat stated that her client completely cooperated with the police.
Attorney Bernard Da Silva, who represented Charan, also sought bail for his client, whom he said was merely a passenger in the vehicle that was intercepted by CANU ranks. He added that nothing was found on Charan’s person. Da Silva stated that ranks also conducted a thorough search of his client’s home and nothing of evidential value was found.
Singh also faced charges of possession of cocaine, firearms and ammunition.
It was alleged that on October 3rd, at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, Singh had in his possession 6.6 grammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
It was also alleged that on the same date, Singh had in his possession two guns—
.32 and .38-calibre weapons— without being the holder of a firearm licence at the time.
He was also charged with possession of 13 rounds of .32 ammunition and eight rounds of 9 mm ammunition.
The man denied all the charges and Rahamat stated that the cocaine, firearms and ammunition were found in a home which he does not occupy by himself and in a room which he does not occupy.
CANU prosecutor Konyo Sandiford objected to bail being granted and stated that the arrest came after surveillance of the accused. The prosecutor further said that the state has evidence that contradicts the claims made by the defence.
Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore subsequently remanded all three men to prison and adjourned the proceedings until October 17th.
CANU had stated that Singh was the driver of a white Premio, PSS 8977, with Charan as a passenger, while Gouveia was the driver of PLL 5213, who was behind Singh’s vehicle on the highway. After observing the cars, ranks intercepted the transfer of a box containing five suspected bricks of cocaine and beauty soaps between the cars. As a result, a total of 5.582 kilogrammes of suspected cocaine was intercepted during the transfer.
