Attorney fails in bid to get bail for cocaine accused

A man who was allegedly found with a quantity of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking was remanded to prison yesterday when he appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

Louis Van De Cruz pleaded not guilty to the charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

It is alleged that on March 31, Van De Cruz had 1.3 kilogrammes of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.

However, Van De Cruz’s lawyer Adrian Thompson applied for reasonable bail for him stating that the narcotics were not found in his client’s possession and that was a special circumstance under which his client should be admitted to bail.

However, Prosecutor Desiree Fowler refuted the attorney’s statement and noted that “the narcotics were found on his (Van De Cruz’s) person.” The prosecutor also stated that in such a case  no special circumstance was presented by Thompson.

The magistrate subsequently ordered that Van De Cruz be remanded to prison and transferred the case to the Providence Magistrate’s Court for April 3.