A 38-year-old driver was yesterday sentenced to two months in prison and fined $30,000 by Magistrate Teriq Mohammed in the Bartica Magistrate’s Court after he pleaded guilty to possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
Khemraj Lall was found with 61.2 grammes of marijuana concealed in three Pringles tins at a mining operation along the Cuyuni River in Region #7 on Monday. He was arrested by the police at the Ogle International Airport and escorted to the Sparendaam Police Station where he was charged.
According to a statement from the Guyana Police Force, on Monday at around 11:00 hrs, Kevin Chester, serving as Security Officer #7073 at ZinJin AGM Inc along the Cuyuni River in Essequibo, conducted a search on Lall, discovering the drugs.
The statement said that Chester serves as a security officer for Aurora Gold Mines and on the day in question observed that Lall was carrying four bags and he examined the bags. His search of one of the bags revealed three Pringles tins, which, upon opening, contained bulky parcels filled with a variety of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis.
When asked by the security guard, the man said the narcotics belonged to him.
Following this admission, Chester contacted his supervisor Winston Adams.
The officer proceeded to weigh both parcels in the presence of the suspect, determining a total weight of 61.2 grammes.
After documenting the measurements, Chester securely sealed the parcels, applied appropriate markings for identification purposes and handed them over to the police. A statement was taken from Lall.
