BERBICIAN housewife Nichelle Johnson, 36, of Lot 6, Number Five Village, West Coast Berbice appeared yesterday before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry on a narcotics charge to which she pleaded not guilty.It is alleged that on Thursday, March 12, at Lot 6 Number Five Village, West Coast Berbice, the mother of two had in her possession 16.571 kilogrammes of cannabis-sativa (marijuana) for the purpose of trafficking.

Her attorney, Mr James Bond, applied for bail after telling the court that his client has a fixed place of abode.

Defence counsel added that the police found the bag in the kitchen area of his client’s premises, which is occupied by his client and other family members.

Bond said Johnson’s door is secured by a CCTV surveillance camera, and had police reviewed the footage, they would have seen that someone had brought the bag and had placed same in the kitchen.

He added that a stranger had stashed the haversack in the kitchen, and the police had checked and found it, but it was never opened by Johnson and her daughter.

He asked that the court find the multi-occupancy of the home as a special reason for the grant of bail.

The lawyer emphasised that Johnson never opened the bag, and when the ranks arrived, she did not go into hiding. He noted that Johnson and her relatives are business people, and has secured their premises, since money was always missing.

The lawyer said the prosecution cannot prove that his client had any knowledge of what was in the bag.

Police Prosecutor Bharat Mangru said ranks from the narcotics branch acted on information and contacted Johnson. They carried out a search on the premises where she and her daughter lived and found the illicit substance.

Johnson told the ranks that the said bag was given to her by someone, and she claimed that the bag was hers.

The prosecutor asked the court to find that the reasons advanced by counsel for the granting of bail to Johnson should not be considered special reasons.

Bail was refused, and the matter was transferred to Fort Wellington Magistrate Court for March 19.
(Geeta Rampersaud)