Prison officer charged, remanded for attempt to smuggle drugs into prison

A female prison officer attached to the New Amsterdam Prison was on Tuesday remanded to the same facility after allegedly attempting to smuggle narcotics into the penitentiary.
Angelica Cameron, a 32-year-old prison officer attached to New Amsterdam Prison, has been remanded to prison by Magistrate Peter Hugh.
She appeared at the New Amsterdam Court on two counts of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
It is alleged that on December 9, at the New Amsterdam Prison, she had in her possession 137 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
The mother of two is also charged with being in possession of 152 grams of cannabis, also on December 9 at Penitentiary Walk, New Amsterdam, for the purpose of trafficking.
Cameron pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Her attorney, Ryan Crawford, in a bail application said that his client has not been dismissed from work. He told the court that no narcotic was found on her but rather in the lunchroom of the prison.
Crawford said the second charge relates to narcotics allegedly found in her car, but this was found after she had worked the night shift. In his bail application, Crawford argued that during the night, his client had gone out to get dinner and had another prison officer in her car.
The lawyer told the court that it was hours later that the narcotics was found and that others would have had access to the vehicle.
The lawyer, in pleading with the court to grant bail, pointed out that her two children are ages six and three.
He said too that her husband is in the military and is currently stationed at Guyana’s border, adding that the need to care for her children is a credible ground for reasonable bail.
However, the prosecution told the court that when Cameron returned from dinner, she was searched and nothing illegal was found on her but when the officer was going to search a cup she was carrying at the time, the officer ran into the lunch room where the drug was subsequently discovered.
The prosecution asked the court not to grant bail, saying that when the drug was found in the car, the vehicle was locked and it was only the prison officer who had access to her car.
According to the prosecution, there are at least 13 witnesses. Cameron was remanded and the case will continue on December 27.
When the accused heard that bail was being refused, she broke down in tears.
Meanwhile, Police in a statement had said that a female officer searched her colleague but nothing was found. The officer then searched the water bottle that she was holding. It is alleged that inside the water bottle was a transparent taped package containing leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis.
The officer contacted her supervisor after which a further search was carried out, in her presence, on her motor car, PZZ 1197, and on the floor behind the driver’s seat, a black plastic bag containing two transparent parcels wrapped with tape was allegedly found. An examination was carried out on the parcels, and it was observed that a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis was found. (G4)