Tuschen men remanded on charge of drug trafficking

Two men who were recently busted with over $21.4M worth in cannabis were on Monday remanded to prison for drug trafficking.

The men, 39-year-old Shafeek Latif of 535 Tuschen New Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo and 35-year-old Naresh Totoram of 632 Tuschen New Housing Scheme appeared before Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.

The men pleaded not guilty to the joint charge which alleged that on October 15, 2019, at the Parika Public Road, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) they had 42.824 kilograms of cannabis in their possession for the purpose of trafficking.  The men were remanded to prison until November 8, 2019.

According to reports, on the day in question about 03:00 hrs an operation by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) resulted in the arrest of the two defendants and the seizure of 94lbs of marijuana.

The two men were occupants of a Spacio motor car when it was intercepted by the ranks.  The ranks found two bulky salt bags in the back seat with the cannabis.