Four men in court for having $8M worth of ganjaBy Alexander Bruzual Friday, October 23 2009
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Weed Haul: Senior Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan, right, looks on yesterday as police officers examine 53 bags of marijuana which were found on...
Four men, one a Jamaican, were brought to court yesterday to answer charges of being in possession of marijuana worth $8 million.
The men were arrested Monday morning when 876 kilogrammes of marijuana were seized on board a pirogue named Uncle Sam. The sea vessel was intercepted by officials of the Dutch warship Von Spic.
After three days of questioning, Carlton Taylor aka David Jones of Calabash Bay, St Elizabeth, Jamaica; Roger Bertrand aka Franklin Noel of Rampanalgas Village, Toco; Fred Amoroso of Bay Road, Salybia; and Allan Thomas of Santa Cruz, were all brought yesterday before Magistrate Lucina Cardinas-Ragoonanan in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ 4A Court.
They were charged with importing prohibited goods, possession of a dangerous drug for the purposes of trafficking, and possession of prohibited goods onboard a vessel on the high seas. Noel, captain of the vessel, was also slapped with the additional charge of leaving the country without making the required declarations to customs officials.
Defence attorney Patrick Godson-Phillips represented Taylor and Thomas. However, he was unsuccessful in his application for bail.
The attorney argued the two men were not flight risks and had significant ties to the country. He also said Taylor was prepared to surrender his passport, and comply with any restrictions imposed by the court. The attorney also asked the court to consider that the State had failed to provide background tracing on any of the accused despite the length of time the men were in custody.
Prosecuting attorney, Harricharan Cassie, rejected these arguments, saying until the background tracings were provided, all the accused men should be considered as flight risks. He pointed out specifically Taylor, who had given separate names to officials, making it clear in the State’s mind of his intentions if he was released.
Cassie then requested for an additional day for the State to produce background tracings on all four men, explaining the reason it was not yet available was because various State agencies were involved in the investigatory stages of the matter.
He however assured the court it would be prepared by today.
In light of this, Cardenas-Ragoonanan, adjourned the matter for the information to be provided to the court. All four men are expected to return to court today. The exhibits, valued at close to $8.76 million, comprised of 53 bags of marijuana which were brought yesterday to the courthouse in a truck.
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