Odarie Phillips of Vigilance Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara, the 25-year-old who was nabbed with $7 million in marijuana although he tried to evade law enforcement officers in Buxton, has been remanded to prison for drug trafficking.
Arraigned without legal representation before Vigilance Magistrate Fabayo Azore on Thursday, Phillips pleaded not guilty to a charge which stated that he had in his possession, on February 1, 2023, 23.1 kilograms of cannabis sativa (marijuana), worth $7M, for the purpose of trafficking. The accused was refused bail, and the matter has been adjourned until March 20.
Remanded: Odarie Phillips
On the day in question, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) officers were conducting an operation on the East Coast of Demerara to intercept a particular motor vehicle. That vehicle drove into Buxton, and evaded the officers on several occasions, including at a roadblock set up on the Buxton Public Road.
An eventual search of the vehicle led to the discovery of 12 parcels of seeds, leaves and stems suspected to be cannabis in an amount of 23.2 kilograms (51 pounds), and the driver, Odearie Phillips, was arrested.
The 12 parcels of suspected cannabis that were discovered in the vehicle
According to CANU, after Phillips had been arrested, residents of the community of Buxton became hostile, and assaulted several officers even as they damaged several of the unit’s vehicles in an attempt to free the man, who was in lawful custody, by pulling him out of the CANU vehicle. This, CANU has said, resulted in its officers discharging several shots in the air.
That, however, led to residents of the community taking to the main thoroughfare to protest the man’s arrest. Scores of persons gathered on the roadway and burnt debris, while a truck driver was pulled from his vehicle and the vehicle was set alight.
The driver of a Canter transporting wood was also attacked, and the windshield of his vehicle was damaged by debris thrown at it.
