Odearie Phillips, the East Coast resident whose arrest by the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit [CANU] on Tuesday led to unrest at Buxton, appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Vigilance Magis-trate’s Court yesterday on the charge of trafficking in narcotics.
Phillips, 25, and of Vigi-lance Housing Scheme, pleaded not guilty to the charge. He was refused bail and was remanded to prison until 20th March, 2023.
According to reports, CANU officers on Wed-nesday conducted an intelligence driven operation on the East Coast of Demerara to intercept a motor vehicle. The vehicle under surveillance drove into Bux-ton, evading the officers on several occasions, including at a road block on the Buxton Public Road.
After intercepting the vehicle, a search was conducted which led to the discovery of twelve parcels of suspected cannabis weighing 23.2 kgs. Phillips, who was driving at the time, was then arrested. The street value of the drugs, according to CANU, is approximately $7m.
The CANU unit said that following the arrest of Phillips, members of the public became hostile and proceeded to assault several officers in trying to free Phillips, who was in lawful custody. CANU said several of the unit’s vehicles were damaged and this resulted in several shots being discharged in the air.
