Cop charged for stealing narcotics unearthed in drug bust

Police Detective Sergeant Elfannando Newman, who has been accused of stealing cannabis sativa which was unearthed during a drug bust, has been charged and placed on $100,000 bail following an investigation done by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

Represented by attorney-at-law Siand Dhurjon, Newman appeared before Diamond/Grove Magistrate Sunil Scarce on a charge alleging that he stole 3,122 grams of marijuana from the Timehri Police Station, East Bank Demerara (EBD). The Administration of Justice Act was applied, and he pleaded not guilty.
It is alleged that between February 27, 2021 and March 1, 2021, at the Timehri Police Station, being employed by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) as a Sergeant of Police, Newman stole three large, bulky parcels of cannabis sativa, with a total weight of 3,122 grams, which had been taken into possession by him by virtue of his employment.

As a result of a civil forfeiture investigation conducted by SOCU in September 2021, ranks went to the Timehri Police Station to conduct further investigations, and it was revealed that a quantity of cannabis that should have been lodged by Newman was never lodged, and was stolen.
The investigation revealed that, on February 27, 2021, ranks stationed at the Highway Police Patrol Base searched a motorcar that had three occupants inside — two males and a female — and found three large parcels containing the narcotics.
One of the males, who was the driver of the car, offered the rank who found the narcotics $2M in cash and three ounces of gold to forego the matter, but the rank refused his offer.
The narcotics and suspects were escorted to the Timehri Police Station and handed over to Sergeant Newman, who weighed the drugs and claimed that it weighed 3,122 grams. Newman failed to lodge the narcotics that were handed over to him, and is alleged to have stolen them.