45 months jail, $58M fine for trafficking ganja

A 33-year-old No.78 Village Corriverton, Berbice resident who was caught with 141 lbs of cannabis on Thursday pleaded guilty to the offence.

Abdool Shakoor appeared before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh at the Whim Magistrate’s Court where he pleaded guilty to the possession of a 64.6 kg of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

He was sentenced to 45 months imprisonment together with a fine of GY$58,140,000, according to a press release from the Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU).

His co-accused, Yogindra Bheemsingh, 33, of Bank Road Corriverton, Berbice, pleaded not guilty to the offence of procuring narcotics and was remanded to prison until March 20, 2024.

Ranks of CANU arrested the duo on Monday; they were intercepted inside a car at No. 65 Village, Corentyne.

The ranks conducted a search of the vehicle and found three large bulky parcels containing a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis.

The pair was arrested and escorted to CANU’s Headquarters along with the drugs which tested positive for cannabis.