Sixty-three-year-old Lena Narine, also called ‘Aunty Lena’, who was busted at her Prashad Nagar home along with two others by the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) last Friday was yesterday remanded to prison.
Narine, along with 54-year-old Sherlan Edmondson, a money changer and Earl Branch, 49, a handyman of Pike Street, Kitty, appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court before Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus who read the charge to them. The charge alleges that on January 27th at Shantiniketan Street, Prashad Nagar, Georgetown, they had in their possession narcotics, that is to say 1.050 kilograms (kg) of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. They all pleaded not guilty to the charge.
According to the facts which were presented by the CANU Prosecutor, on the day in question, CANU ranks conducted an operation at a house at Lot 295 Shantiniketan Street which was said to be owned by Narine. During the search, a parcel containing a quantity of whitish, powdery substance suspected to be cocaine was discovered in a room where Edmondson was sleeping. As a result, the three accused, along with the suspected narcotics, were escorted to CANU Headquarters where it was tested and weighed. The substance tested positive for cocaine and its weight amounted to 1.050 kg. CANU in their release had said that the narcotics had an approximate street value of $1.1 million.
The prosecutor added that while under caution at the headquarters, Grant gave an oral admission stating that two men in a white motorcar went to Narine’s home on the said day and gave him a black plastic bag and told him to give it the woman. When asked by Principal Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus if there were any reasons why they should be granted bail, Narine and Grant stated that they do not know anything about the drugs. However, Edmondson told the court that he should be granted bail on the grounds that he is a diabetic patient who frequently needs medication and that he was just “stopping” at Narine’s for a short while since his house is under construction. He also claimed that he was not at Narine’s home at the time of the raid.
The three defendants, who were all unrepresented, were then remanded to prison until February 13th when the matter will be called again. In the release, CANU had said that along with the cocaine, 266 grams of ecstasy was discovered.
Narine and two other persons were busted in March of last year at the same premises allegedly with 11.4 kg of cocaine which had an approximate street value of $12.5 million, while she alone was charged with having another 266 grams of ecstasy with an approximate value of $400,000. Narine and the two defendants, who are unrelated to this latest bust, were each granted $500,000 bail on their respective charges. Narine’s trial for the ecstasy charge is still ongoing.