JOEL Figueira, 27, of Lot 362 West Ruimveldt, Georgetown was remanded to prison yesterday, on a drug trafficking charge. He appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton and pleaded not guilty to the offence, which alleged that he trafficked in 60 grammes cannabis (marijuana) in West Ruimveldt on July 13.
Defence Counsel Mortimer Coddette, whose application for bail was refused, claimed the narcotic was found in the defendant’s yard and not on his person.
The lawyer said Figueira vends at his home and persons traverse the area where the alleged cannabis was discovered.
However, Police Corporal Simone Payne, prosecuting, who, successfully, objected to the grant of pre-trial freedom, said ranks received certain information and, when they went to the house, the occupant was standing at his gate.
But, upon seeing them, he proceeded to sit on a bench in his yard and, as he was being questioned, the policemen observed a haversack on the ground next to the where he was sitting and a search of it yielded the stuff, to which he admitted ownership, the prosecutor said.
The case will be called, again, tomorrow.