The three men who were on Wednesday arrested by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) during an alleged cocaine handover, today (Friday), made their first appearance in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to charges of possession of drugs and illegal gun possession.
The three accused, Andre Singh of Diamond Housing Scheme (EBD), Clifford Gouveia of Little Abary, East Coast Demerara and Oneil Charran of Sandy Babb Street, Kitty all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Court heard that on October, 3 while they were in the vicinity of the Rupert Craig Highway, the three had 5.582 kilograms of cocaine in their possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Another charge was read which stated that on the said day, CANU ranks carried out a search at Singh’s Diamond EBD residence where an additional 6.6 grams of the cocaine were unearthed.
Other charges stated that on the day in question, the men also had in their possession two unlicensed firearms; 1 pistol and a .32 Taurus revolver.
Defense Attorney for the men, in an application for bail told the Court that the drugs, along with the unlicensed firearms, were not found on his clients. He noted that the illegal items were found in the vehicle that was accessible to several other persons during the course of that day.
However, State Prosecutor Konyo Sandiford objected to bail being granted to the men while informing the Court that CANU investigators have been keeping a close watch on the men for a period of time.
Further, she noted that the men had provided the investigator with written statements after they were busted with the cocaine.
Moreover, the prosecution’s submission was upheld by Magistrate Latchman and the men were all remanded to prison until October 17, 2018, when the case continues.
On Wednesday last, agents of the Custom Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) intercepted two motor cars on Rupert Craig Highway in the vicinity of Kitty seawall with a quantity of cocaine, guns and ammunition. As a result of the operations, three males were taken into custody.
Based on information received, Singh and Charan were in a white Premio motor car bearing registration number PSS 8977; while Gouveia was the driver of another motorcar PLL 5213. At the time, a box was being transferred from one car to the other.
Ranks of CANU swooped down on the operation and intercepted a box containing five suspected bricks of cocaine and beauty soaps. Upon weighing the cocaine it amounted to 5.582 kilograms.
However, the home of Singh was subsequently searched and a further 6.6 grams of suspected cocaine, along with US$5000 and GYD$3M were found.
In addition, one Taurus Revolver with matching ammunition and one Pistol with matching ammunition were discovered in another section of Singh’s house.
