NA labourer sentenced to four years for ganja trafficking

An Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam labourer will spend the next four years behind bars after he admitted to marijuana trafficking on Tuesday.  Magistrate Krishndat Persaud imposed the sentence on Robert Stewart, 33, when he appeared before him at the No. 51 Court on a charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. He also ordered the man to pay a $160,800 fine.

The court heard that around 7 pm on December 10, Stewart had in his possession 268 grammes of cannabis sativa for the purpose of trafficking. Police Prosecutor Sergeant Michael Grant told the court that police were on patrol at Queenstown, Corriverton when they noticed Stewart sitting on a culvert and acting in a suspicious manner.

He said an officer stopped and conducted a search on the man’s person and found two yellow paper parcels; one in his left hand and the other in the crotch of his pants.

The parcels contained a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems, suspected to be cannabis sativa. According to the prosecutor, Stewart was arrested and taken to Springlands police station where the items were weighed in his presence. Stewart told the magistrate that it was first appearance in court and that he was sorry for what he did. He also asked the magistrate to have “mercy” on him.