Two men get three years each for ganja possession

Mar 23, 2019 News

Three men yesterday made appearances in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly to answer their individual charges of being in possession of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
Firstly, Navindra Harrichan, a painter of Lot 7 Owen Street, Kitty, Georgetown, and Martin Ishmael, a labourer of Foulis, East Coast Demerara, both 30, were jointly charged. It was alleged that on March 20, 2019 at Owen Street, Kitty, they had in their possession 140.13 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
Harrichan pleaded guilty while Ishmael entered a not guilty plea.

From left: Martin Ishmael (remanded), Navindra Harrichan and Michael Gouveia

According to the facts of the charge, police ranks acting on information received went to the aforementioned location where a search was conducted on the premises in the presence of the two men.
The suspected cannabis was found in the first room of the house in a wardrobe drawer. A quantity of stems, leaves and seeds were found.
The men were taken into police custody where Harrichan gave a caution statement admitting ownership of the marijuana.
In the statement, he claimed that, “I is a poor man selling the ‘weed’ because I don’t get to work.” He asked the magistrate to be lenient with him as it was his first time before the court.
Magistrate Daly then sentenced Harrichan to prison for three years and fined him a sum of $30,000. Ishmael was remanded to prison until April 26 for the next court hearing.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Michael Gouveia of Lot 13 ‘A’ Shell Road, Kitty, Georgetown, was yesterday sentenced to prison by the same Magistrate after he admitted to being in possession of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
It was alleged that on March 20, 2019 at Owen Street, Kitty, Georgetown, Gouveia had in his possession 8.69 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
On the day in question, at about 10:30hrs, police ranks were on patrol duties in the area. Gouveia, who was walking along Owen Street, was observed acting in a suspicious manner and this resulted in him being stopped.
During a search of his person, five small Ziploc bags were found in his right-side pants pocket containing stems, leaves, and seeds suspected to be cannabis.
He was told of the allegation and he admitted that it belonged to him. Gouveia was arrested and taken to the police station where the narcotics were tested, weighed in his presence and the charge was later instituted against him.
Senior Magistrate Daly then sentenced Gouveia to three years in prison and imposed a fine of $30,000.