Joel Johnson, a 21-year-old Prison Officer of Lot 1 Section ‘C’, Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment after he attempted to smuggle marijuana into the Mazaruni Prison, Region Seven.
According to police reports, Johnson was arrested on Tuesday with 804 grams of cannabis, and was charged today (January 15th) with Possession of Narcotics for the Purpose of Trafficking – Contrary to Section 5(1)(a)(i) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act Chapter 10:10.
He was arraigned this morning at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court before His Worship, Teriq Mohamed. Johnson pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to three (3) years imprisonment along with a fine of $30,000.
Based on reports, Johnson returned to the Mazaruni Prison at about 18:30h on Tuesday after being granted four days of time off.
Upon his return, he was subjected to a mandatory search at the Mazaruni Checkpoint/Scanning Area during which he presented a green haversack to the on-duty Prison Officer for inspection.
Inside the haversack, eight Irish Spring soap boxes and two Colgate toothpaste boxes were discovered, containing leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be Cannabis, all wrapped in transparent plastic. The Prison Officer immediately showed the suspected narcotics to Johnson, placed him under arrest, and reported the matter to the police.
Police responded to the scene and the suspect along with the narcotics was escorted to the Bartica Police Station. At the station, the suspected narcotics were weighed, totalling 804 grams.
