A 35-year-old market vendor, Shon Sam of Middle Road, La Penitence, was, on March 17, 2020, brought before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, having been charged with trafficking in narcotics.

The charge alleged that, on Monday, March 16, 2020, at 70km Police Outpost, Cuyuni River, Sam was found with 2301 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
Sam admitted to the charge when read to him.

The prosecutor informed the court that, on Monday, March 16, 2020, at 12 hours, ranks at the 70km Police Outpost were on duty, when a white Toyota Land Cruiser was stopped and ranks requested to conduct a search on the vehicle and the occupant. Ranks first conducted a search on the defendant who was the lone passenger of the vehicle but nothing was found on his person. The ranks then proceeded to conduct search on a 5-gram Torginol paint bucket that was in the vehicle. There they discovered three bulky, transparent, plastic parcels. They slashed the parcels, revealing a quantity of leaves and stems suspected to be cannabis. The defendant was told of the suspicion and was cautioned. Sam then admitted to the act and was taken to the Outpost. In Sam’s presence, the cannabis was weighed and amounted to 2301 grams. Sam was then placed into custody.

When given the opportunity to explain his act, Sam mentioned to the court that, while on his way to his destination, he was stopped by someone who had asked him, as a favour, to drop the bucket to a location. Sam further mentioned to the court that he hadn’t knowledge of the contents of the bucket, nor had he opened the bucket to check it while transporting it. Sam continued to tell the court that he had to take responsibility for the item as he had taken up the duty in transporting it. Having said this, Sam nevertheless requested leniency from the court stating that he was a father of five children.
Chief Magistrate McLennan sentenced Sam to 3 years in prison and ordered him to pay $1,518,660.