Linden taxi driver slapped with drug trafficking charge

A 29-year-old taxi driver of Lot 227 Blue Berry Hill Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) has been arrested and charged with trafficking in excess of one kilogram of marijuana.
When Kester Gilkes appeared in the Bartica Magistrate’s Court on Thursday to answer the charge, he pleaded not guilty and was remanded to prison until June 22 by Magistrate Crystal Lambert.
On Tuesday, May 16, Police ranks at the Sherima Police Station in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) stopped motor lorry GXX 340 for routine checks. The lorry was being driven by its owner Gladwyn King, a 44-year-old driver from Sophia, Greater Georgetown, and Kester Gilkes was the passenger therein.
Police searched the motor lorry as well as the driver and occupant. In Gilkes’s haversack, the Police found two transparent bulky parcels containing leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis sativa. As such, Gilkes was told of the offence committed, cautioned, and arrested, after which he reportedly admitted ownership of the illegal substance.
He was then escorted to the Bartica Police Station, where the narcotic was weighed and amounted to one kilogram, 19 grams. Police kept Gilkes in custody pending charges.