“Criminal” remanded for piracy, hijacking

A Corentyne fisherman was on Wednesday arraigned at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts after facing hijacking and piracy charges.
The Court was told that on February 19, 2018, 40-year-old Shameer Shariff, aka “Criminal”, who was armed with two firearms and a cutlass, pillaged a boat called “Ana Teresa” property of Vickash Balkisson.
In the process of looting the boat, Shariff stole a 75-horsepower Yamaha outboard engine valued $2,000,000; 500 pounds of seine valued $2,000,000; two 24-volt Powermaster batteries valued $60,000, 11 45-gallon plastic drums of gasoline valued $450,000 and food stuff valued $150,000. The items that were stolen carried a value of $4,660,000 altogether and belonged to Vickash Balkisson.
The Police Prosecutor objected to bail based on the seriousness of the man’s offence. His use of guns was highlighted along with the fact that Shariff has been implicated in several other investigations that were ongoing.
As such, Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs Marcus refused bail and Shariff was remanded to prison. He will return to the Springlands Magistrate’s Court on March 20, 2018.