Surinamese gets 3 years, fined for drug trafficking

– Pomeroon man remanded on similar charge

A Surinamese who was nabbed with a quantity of narcotics on Saturday during a Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU)-led operation at Eliza Mary, Corriverton, Corentyne, Berbice, has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment along with a $688,350 fine.

Virjanand Narain appeared at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to trafficking 69.9 grams of ecstasy and 101 grams of hashish. The sentence was imposed by Magistrate Renita Singh.
In a separate matter, Rocky Mangra, a 42-year-old from Grant St Joseph in Lower Pomeroon, Essequibo, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), was slapped with a similar charge. Particulars of the charge against him stated that on June 2, he had 3.128 kilograms of Cannabis sativa (marijuana) in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Mangra was brought before Magistrate Esther Sam at the Charity Magistrate’s Court. He was refused bail and remanded to prison until June 26. On the day in question, CANU ranks conducted an operation at the Charity Stelling where they seized a box containing multiple parcels of cannabis.
According to CANU, its ranks uncovered the box of imported cannabis, commonly referred to as “creepy.” The seized narcotics have an estimated street value of around $1 million, CANU said.