Three Venezuelan men appeared yesterday before Magistrate Delon Bess at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, charged with possession of narcotics and possession of a firearm and ammunition without licence and one pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
It is alleged that on Friday, October 20, Romel Marin, 35; Eliezer Vera, 23; and Alirio Jimenez, 34; had in their possession 64.7 grammes of cannabis and 66.4 grammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. They were also charged with possession of a firearm without a licence.
On the day in question, police ranks acting on information, visited the home of Remy Melville to conduct a search. They discovered two haversacks containing the two pistols and the Glock 19 with the 25 matching rounds under a bed. A further search turned up a green bag on top of a refrigerator. Upon inspection, it contained a whitish substance suspected to be cocaine, along with a quantity of leaves and stems suspected to be cannabis.
The other two accused were also present in the house.
Vera, a 23-year-old miner from Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, pleaded guilty to all three charges and was sentenced to a total of six years imprisonment. For possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, he was fined $58,230 along with three years of imprisonment. For the possession of cocaine, he was fined $99,600 and sentenced to three years imprisonment. However, the Magistrate indicated that these two sentences would run concurrently.
For the possession of a firearm without a licence, he was sentenced to two years of imprisonment, and one year for possession of ammunition without a licence.
These two sentences will run consecutively.
Marin and Jimenez both pleaded not guilty to the charges and were remanded to prison. They will go on trial on November 13, in Port Kaituma.
