A 21-year-old Prison Officer, Joel Johnson, from Lot 1, Section ‘C’ Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara, was arrested on January 14 after being found in possession of 804 grams of cannabis.
He was charged with possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, contrary to Section 5(1)(a)(i) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act.
The incident unfolded at around 18:30 hrs when Johnson, who had been granted four days off, returned to his post at the Mazaruni Checkpoint/Scanning Area. Upon his arrival, he was subjected to a routine search. During the search, Johnson presented a green haversack, which, when opened, revealed eight Irish Spring soap boxes and two Colgate toothpaste boxes, all containing leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis. The items were wrapped in transparent plastic.
The discovery led the fellow Prison Officer conducting the search to immediately arrest Johnson and inform the police. Officers from the Bartica Police Station responded promptly to the scene. After the suspected narcotics were handed over to the authorities, they were weighed, revealing a total of 804 grams of cannabis.
Johnson was taken to the Bartica Police Station, where he was formally charged. He appeared before Magistrate His Worship Mr. Teriq Mohamed at 09:20 hrs on Wednesday to answer the charge. Pleading guilty, Johnson was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $30, 000.
