Cop accused of stealing drugs from Timehri police station granted bail

A police detective sergeant attached to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force was granted $100,000 bail for the offence of larceny by a public officer.

The charge, which was filed by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), alleged that Elfannando Newman of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, stole a quantity of cannabis from the Timehri Police Station on February 27, 2021.

Newman appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at Diamond/Golden Grove Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty; the matter was adjourned until July 08, 2022.

He was represented by attorney-at-law Siand Dhurjon.

It is alleged that between February 27, 2021, and March 01, 2021, Newman while employed by the Guyana Police Force as a sergeant stole three large bulky parcels of marijuana weighing 3, 122 grams (6.8 pounds) that were handed over to him to be lodged.

An investigation was conducted by SOCU in September 2021 where it was revealed that the marijuana should have been lodged by Newman on February 27, 2021, but this reportedly never happened.

According to SOCU, some 45 to 50 pounds of marijuana were discovered in a car with two men and a female occupant on February 27, 2021.

One of the men reportedly offered the police rank who found the narcotics $2 million and three ounces of gold to forego the investigation. SOCU said the rank allegedly refused the offer and took the drugs to the Timehri Police Station where it was handed over to Newman, who claimed it only weighed 6.8 pounds.

However, Newman reportedly failed to lodge the 6.8 pounds of marijuana and it is believed that he stole the drugs.