Taxi driver remanded on ganja trafficking charge

Sherwin Edward Clarke
Sherwin Edward Clarke

A taxi-driver was remanded to prison yesterday after he was charged with trafficking over eight pounds of cannabis that were reportedly found in the trunk of the car he had been driving.

The charge against Sherwin Edward Clarke states that on February 11th, at Fire Side Grill, in Georgetown, he trafficked 3.86 kilogrammes (8.5 pounds) of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

Clarke, 36, pleaded not guilty to the charge and his attorney, Adrian Thompson, told Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan that he wasn’t the owner of the vehicle and had no knowledge of what was in the trunk of the car. He further stated two other persons were in the car and were arrested along with Clarke.

According to Thompson, the only reason Clarke was in Georgetown, as he hails from Canefield, Berbice, was due to his occupation as a taxi-driver. He had transported a passenger and had parked the car at the said location.

However, Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Narissa Leander told the magistrate that her facts differed from that of Clarke’s attorney. She contended that Clarke was the lone occupant of the car and that he had also given an oral statement admitting to the ownership of the narcotic. Leander then voiced her objections to bail being granted.

Bail was then denied and Clarke was remanded to prison until March 1st, 2019, when his next hearing is scheduled.