Lodge woman remanded after denying smuggling marijuana

Joseph Pollydore Street Lodge, Georgetown resident Nicola Clarke on Wednesday pled not guilty to allegedly smuggling 325 grams of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. The matter stemmed from April 17, 2018, when she was allegedly busted at the Camp Street Prison trying to smuggle the illegal item for her reputed husband Orpheus Johnson, who is presently on remand for murder.

The 37-year-old woman appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Senior Magistrate Fabio Azore who denied her bail. The unrepresented woman was thereafter remanded and she is expected to re-appear in court on May 30. On the day in question, she allegedly attempted to hide the substance in boxes of cooked rice.
According to reports, as the woman presented the boxes of food at the checkpoint, the officers discovered two well wrapped packages containing the marijuana. One of the boxes reportedly had cook-up rice while the other had a curried dish and rice. The marijuana was neatly packed under the rice. The packages were immediately opened and the illegal drug was found. Her reputed husband, Johnson, was charged with the murder of Travis Rudder, which took place at Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara back in 2015.
In that same incident, his son and reputed wife were seriously injured. Of recent, several contraband items were smuggled into the prison. These items included cigarette lighters, marijuana, improvised weapons, cellphones and cellphone cards.
In February last, a Joint Services operation at the Mazaruni Prison unearthed several cellular phones and improvised weapons, among other contraband items. The six-hour search exercise resulted in the discovery of four cellphones, five phone chargers, three USB cables, a memory card, 30 lighters, 15 smoking utensils, six improvised weapons and several other items.