A 35-year-old housewife of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, was arrested after 438 grams of marijuana was found in her possession at the Bartica stelling on Wednesday.
Police Headquarters, in a statement, said that information was received that the woman was also suspected of trafficking a 14-year-old girl. At about 13:30hrs, the woman and the child were contacted when they disembarked a speedboat at the Bartica stelling.
The officer escorted them to the Bartica police station where a search was conducted on the 35-year-old woman. In a brown haversack she was carrying, a bulky parcel wrapped with black plastic and transparent tape was found.
The parcel was cut open and ranks found inside a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis. The woman was cautioned by the police rank after which she admitted ownership of the suspected marijuana.
It was later weighed in her presence and amounted to 438 grams. The woman was subsequently placed into custody.
Meanwhile, the 14-year-old girl was interviewed regarding the ‘trafficking’ information received and she revealed that she and the 35-year-old woman are friends.
The girl said she was told by the woman that she was being taken to Blue Mountain Backdam to work at a shop to sell alcoholic beverages.
A Child Care and Protection officer and other authorities were informed. The 14-year-old girl is currently with the Child Care and Protection Agency as investigations continue.
I am pleased that that arrest was made in the nick of time thus avoiding a Trafficking in Persons incident. It would be wise for the 14 year old to be reunited with her relatives and return to school after some counselling classes. She would then turn over a new leaf of her life.