A TUSCHEN, East Bank Essequibo resident, was, on Tuesday, charged for trafficking over $113 million worth of cocaine and was remanded to prison by Magistrate Faith McGusty.

Ryan DaSilva appeared before the Leonora Magistrate’s Court and denied that on December 18, 2021, he had 17.4 kilograms of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.

His attorney, Dexter Todd made an application for bail. Magistrate McGusty, however, remanded him to prison until January 21, 2022.

The Guyana Chronicle had previously reported that on the day in question, ranks attached to the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) discovered 15 brick-like parcels of cocaine.

CANU officers, acting on a ‘tip-off’, conducted narcotics operations in the Tuschen-Parika area. During one of the operations, a motor vehicle which was driven by DaSilva, was stopped and searched, resulting in the discovery.

At CANU headquarters, the substance in the parcels was tested and was confirmed to be cocaine. The cocaine, which weighed 17.4 kg (38.3lbs), has a street value of more than US$552,000 (approximately GY$113,160,000).