The five men who were on board the boat that slammed into another vessel along the Upper Berbice River on Tuesday evening, resulting in the deaths of four men, were yesterday remanded to prison after they were jointly charged with possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
The accused are: Marvin Kissoon, 39, a fisherman of Lot 8 Sheet Anchor Village, East Canje Berbice; Kevin Archer, 20, a labourer of Maria Henrietta Village, Berbice River; Carl Williams, 51, fisherman of Lot 6 Adelphi Settlement, East Canje Berbice; and Netram Punwasie, 38, a carpenter and Ramnarine Punwasie, 23, labourer, both of Lot 12 Palmyra Village, Corentyne.
The men were jointly charged at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
It is alleged that on April 28 at Edinburgh Village, East Bank Berbice, they had in their possession 35 kilogrammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
They all pleaded not guilty to the charge and were remanded to prison until May 7, when they are to return to court for another hearing. Kissoon was represented by attorney Mursaline Bacchus, while the other four men were unrepresented.
Stabroek News was told that the men are likely to face additional charges once police complete their investigation of the fatal collision. The relatives of the accused were gathered at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court, where they insulted media operatives who attempted to take pictures of the men.
The bodies of Romario Denhart, a certified surveyor, 24, of Stanleytown Village, New Amsterdam, Denhart’s father, Gregory Freeman Denhart, 55, Julian McKenzie, 50, a farmer of Sandhill Village, Berbice River, and Kidman Lindie, 40, both farmers of Sandhill Village, Berbice River, were discovered some fifty five miles up the Berbice River between Katabali and Friendship by police during two searches on Wednesday.
The bodies, which were found a short distance away from the area where the boats collided and were positively identified by relatives at the New Amsterdam Hospital, were transported to Bailey’s Funeral Parlour, West Coast Berbice.
Autopsies are still to be done and relatives of the four deceased yesterday said efforts are being made by the police to have the post-mortem examinations carried out on Saturday.
The four deceased were heading further up the Berbice River around minutes to 8 pm on Tuesday when the other boat, named ‘Guidance,’ collided with their boat.
Stabroek News was told that the five men on ‘Guidance’ subsequently sped off without rendering assistance.
In a statement on Wednesday, police said that Kissoon, who was the captain of ‘Guidance,’ was proceeding north while the deceased were proceeding south.
Kissoon told investigators that he saw Denhart’s boat approaching and to avoid a collision he pulled east but the other captain also pulled east at the same time, causing the boats to collide and capsize.
The police said Kissoon and his companions re-entered their boat and escaped after they realized that the occupants of the other boat did not surface.
The missing men’s wooden boat was destroyed as a result of the collision.
After news of the collision broke, residents rushed to the area with a boat and found slippers and other belongings of the missing men floating.
Police conducted searches on Wednesday that resulted in the bodies of the four men being recovered.