A 27-year-old Albouystown resident was today hauled before the Georgetown magistrates’ court where he was slapped with two charges.
Christopher Gonsalves, a shop owner of lot 291 Independence Boulevard, Albouystown, appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and was charged with possession of 530 grams of Cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
He was also charged with willfully attempting to obstruct the course of justice by offering a Police Sergeant, attached to the Brickdam Police Station one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, so as to prevent the institution of the charge.
The incident took place on October 3rd at Punt trench Dam, Albouystown.
Gonsalves pleaded not guilty to both charges. The court heard that an undercover cop in plain clothes, posing as a customer, went to Gonsalves to purchase the Marijuana, after which he left on a motorbike and minutes later returned with a bulky black bag containing leaves, seeds and stems.
It was while the men were about to complete their transaction that the Policeman identified himself as a CID rank and produced his badge before making the arrest. The man told the court that he was not about to bribe the policeman, instead, Gonsalves said he was actually removing the money that he had in his possession to give to the officer to hand over to his family. He was granted $200,000 dollars bail on the perverting the course of justice charge, but was remanded for the drug possession charge.