TAXI driver Puran Persaud, aged 32, of Lot 62 Rosignol, West Coast Berbice, along with 41-year-old fisherman Puran Ramoo of Lot 38 Bath Settlement, WCB and his 24-year-old girlfriend Liana Ramsundar, a customer service representative of a telecommunications company, were yesterday refused bail and remanded to prison until February 26 when they appeared before Fort Wellington Magistrate Rhondel Weaver, charged with being in possession of cannabis sativa (marijuana) for the purpose of trafficking.

The prosecution’s case is that Persaud was intercepted with 25 parcels containing 41kg, 945g (92.75lbs) of what is suspected to be cannabis sativa following a drug bust at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice on Monday, January 26.

A police release detailed that at about 19:25h on Monday, January 26, 2015, ranks of a mobile police patrol conducted a search on a motor car at No. 9 Village, WCB, in which 41 kilogrammes, 945 grammes of cannabis sativa (marijuana) were found. The release said the driver was arrested and his vehicle detained by the police.

The release continued that subsequent investigations led to the arrest of another man and a woman and a seizure of a further 255 grammes of marijuana. The two men and the woman are in police custody assisting with the investigations.

However, investigations by this newspaper revealed that when Persaud was questioned about the multi-coloured bag which contained several plastic-wrapped parcels, he claimed it was owned by a fisherman from Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice. He subsequently telephoned the fisherman to inform him of his predicament, and urged him to meet him at the Fort Wellington drying floor.

The fisherman and his girlfriend allegedly turned up at the Fort Wellington drying floor and were quickly taken into custody by the ranks. A search carried out on the female at the Fort Wellington Police station unearthed $700,000 in her handbag, while her partner had US$900 in his possession.

The police allege that the couple also confessed to sharing a common-law relationship, which caused ranks to visit their home, where a parcel wrapped in plastic was found in a chair cushion. A scale was also seized.

This newspaper was informed that $800,000 was offered as an inducement to bribe the police officers.

The accused, however, denied all charges levied against them in court.