Linden businessman granted bail for trafficking narcotics

The 28-year-old father of three was shackled, hands and feet, and brought before the court of Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, accompanied by his lawyer, Dexter Todd, on Thursday afternoon.
Akin Perry, of Wismar, Linden, pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on December 5, 2017, at Blackwater Backdam, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), he was allegedly in possession of 490 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
Perry’s lawyer in an application for bail indicated that his client was a first-time offender with a stable family and occupation as a dredge and shop owner in the Blackwater mines. In addition, Todd said that the suspected narcotics were not found in his client’s possession, but when the Police arrived on the scene, the bag containing the illicit substance was found on a bench at the defendant’s shop, which the lawyer deemed to be a “common place for all customers”.
Todd argued that Perry was arrested merely because he was in close proximity to the area, where the drug was found and the fact that one other person was charged (the taxi man who brought the accused to the shop) indicates that someone else may have been responsible.
Police Prosecutor Arvin Moore unfolded a vastly different version of events to the court, claiming that the Police sighted the accused exiting the motor car and was prompted to conduct a search on his person after he began to act in a suspicious manner. Police reports state that the illicit substance was found in a haversack belonging to the defendant, contrary to the defence’s submission.
Bail was granted to Perry in the sum of $300,000 and the case was transferred to the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court in Region Eight to be heard on January 16, 2017.