9 months' jail for pushing ganja

A MAN from Debe, south Trinidad, was jailed yesterday for nine months for possession of marijuana contained in 180 packets.

Moussa Walker, 31, pleaded guilty before senior magistrate Jo-Ann Connor in the San Fernando magistrates' court.

He was arrested by PC Stefan Ramnarine of the Debe Police Post, who along with other police officers, was patrolling on Monday night when at about 8.40 pm, they became suspicious of a Nissan Almera.

Police prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said they stopped the car on the southbound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway near Debe village.

He told Connor Walker was in the back seat and the police saw he was fiddling with a black plastic bag, so they searched him.

In the bag were the 180 packets containing the marijuana. It weighed 322.69 grammes.

Walker admitted to Connor that only five months ago he completed a jail sentence.

He has a charge for possession of firearm pending since 2017.

The outcome of a charge of robbery with violence, however, was in his favour.

Walker pleaded with the magistrate not to send him to jail, though he admitted he had been selling marijuana which explains why it was in packets.

"If I coulda do better, I wouldn't be selling weed," he said.

Connor responded, “You can do better.”

She told Walker she had to send him to jail owing to the fact that he committed the act while the gun-possession case was pending. However, she gave him a much shorter sentence than she was minded to impose, owing to his guilty plea. He was ordered to serve the nine months with hard labour.