East Ruimveldt man remanded on cannabis trafficking charge

A 34-year-old chips vendor from East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was on Friday remanded to prison after being charged with possession of a narcotic for the purpose of trafficking.

Jomal Johnson of Lot 422, Mango Lane, East Ruimveldt, appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where he was formally charged with being in possession of 1.278 kilograms (kg) of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
The offence is alleged to have occurred on Tuesday, April 8, at his East Ruimveldt home.
Johnson pleaded not guilty to the charge and appeared in court unrepresented. During the proceedings, he told the Magistrate that he was denied the opportunity to make a phone call after his arrest.
However, the prosecutor, citing police information, said Johnson and his brother, Delon Prince, were both arrested and had been offered a phone call while in custody at the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU). According to the prosecutor, the men reportedly refused the offer at the time, stating they were not ready to make the call.
Johnson disputed this, stating he had asked for a call but was never given the chance to contact his family.
According to the prosecution’s case, CANU ranks, acting on intelligence, went to Mango Lane, East Ruimveldt, where they contacted Delon Prince, who resides on the lower flat of a two-storey house. After identifying themselves and stating the purpose of their visit, the officers requested to conduct a search of the premises.
During the search, they proceeded to the upper flat of the home where a man was found lying motionless on a bed in one of the bedrooms. In the same room, officers discovered a grey and black haversack resting on a bunk bed. Upon inspection, the bag was found to contain a bulky plastic parcel with leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis.
Prince was immediately arrested and taken to CANU’s office along with the suspected narcotic, which was later weighed and confirmed to be 1.278 kg of cannabis.
While at CANU, Johnson reportedly turned up and informed the officers that while Prince lived downstairs, he occupied the upper flat of the house where the narcotic was found. On camera, he allegedly confessed, saying: “Yes officer, the narcotics found in my room at 442 Mango Lane, East Ruimveldt is mine.” He was then arrested.
However, in court, Johnson claimed he was not at home at the time of the search and only went to the police station after hearing that his brother had been arrested. He admitted to telling officers that the cannabis was his, but explained that he did so only to protect his brother, who has two young children.
“I can’t watch him suffer,” he told the court.
Johnson later claimed that the narcotic actually belonged to his uncle, ‘Patrick’. In light of his conflicting statements and admission to the offence, the prosecution objected to bail, noting that there were no special reasons for his release.
Magistrate McGusty denied Johnson bail and remanded him to prison until his next court date on May 2. Before he was escorted out of court, the Magistrate advised him that “all hope is not lost,” adding that if his uncle were to come forward and claim ownership of the cannabis, the case could take a different turn.