Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson on Wednesday ordered that a 38-year-old man be remanded to prison when he appeared before her at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court for allegedly being found with a quantity of cannabis in his possession at the Berbice bus park for the purpose of trafficking.
Joseph Wilburgh of Kuru Kuru Squatting Area, Linden-Soesdyke Highway pleaded not guilty to the charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

He denied that he had 89 grammes of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking on September 7.
Wilburgh stated that on the day in question he was at the Berbice bus park and had just embarked a bus when a man ran out of the said bus. He said that he noticed a black bag on the ground close to where the man had been seated.

He noted that a policeman then approached him and asked him if he knew the man who had run out of the bus.

He said that he told the police that he did not know him.

Wilburgh went on to say that the police then looked into the bus, saw the bag and picked it up. He said that when the police examined its contents he told him that he suspected that the leaves, seeds and stems were cannabis and that it belonged to him.

Wilburgh said that the police then arrested and later charged him.

Meanwhile, the prosecution stated that on the day in question a policeman was on patrol duty at the bus park when he observed Wilburgh behaving suspiciously.

A search was then conducted on his person and a black bag containing a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis was found in Wilburgh’s right side pants pocket.

He was then arrested and later charged when the contents of the bag were confirmed as being cannabis.
The magistrate then ordered that Wilburgh be remanded to prison and transferred the case to Court Five for October 20.