A father of 13 was yesterday remanded to prison after being slapped with a narcotics trafficking charge for allegedly possessing nearly 10 kilograms of marijuana found in a taxi.
51-year-old Rudy Cort denied the charge which stated that on May 3, 2019 at Sheriff Street, Georgetown, he had in his possession 9.59 kilograms of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Cort, who is a vendor at Stabroek News Market, appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
His lawyer Siand Dhurjon, in an attempt to secure bail for his client, told the court that his client is the sole breadwinner for his family and was merely a passenger in the taxi where the narcotics was found.
The lawyer added that when police stopped the vehicle, his client was seated in the front passenger seat with his luggage.
He argued that if the bag of marijuana which was found in in the trunk belonged to his client, why was his other luggage not in the trunk.
On those grounds, the lawyer asked that his client be released on reasonable bail.
The court prosecutor, Sanj Singh in addressing the court stated that, on the day in question, police acting on information carried out a search on the vehicle and a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be marijuana was found in the trunk of the vehicle.
He told the court that when the allegation was put to the passengers and the driver of the vehicle, Cort admitted ownership of the drugs.
He was then arrested and taken into custody, hence placed before the courts.
On those grounds the prosecutor objected to bail being granted to the Cort. The prosecutor’s objection was upheld by the Magistrate and Cort was remanded to prison.
He is expected to make his next court appearance on May 10, 2019.
