Westmoorings man pleads guilty to marijuana possession

A Westmoorings man has pleaded guilty to six charges of marijuana possession; cultivation of the illicit drug; possession of devices for the illicit use of the drug and possession of a taser.

Elias Aboud, 25, of Sandown Road, Goodwood Park, Westmoorings, appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine in the Port of Spain Fifth Court, where he pleaded guilty to all six charges.

Aboud was held on Sunday morning at Victoria Gardens, Diego Martin, along with another man, by police conducting a traffic exercise in the area.

A search warrant was also executed on his home at Sandown Road.

According to the charges read out to him, it was alleged that on June 30, at Victoria Gardens, he had in his possession marijuana, a taser and devices for the illicit use of the drug.

It was alleged that at Sandown Road, he also had in his possession marijuana; devices for the illicit use of the drugs and cultivated the drug at that address.

Summary trial was recommended by the prosecution and Aboud pleaded guilty to all the charges. The police’s evidence against him was not read out in court and his attorney, Criston J Williams, asked that a probation officer’s report be prepared and his client be allowed to bring character references before he is sentenced.

The matter was adjourned to July 19, and Aboud was allowed to leave the court on the bail he was granted at the police station. It was not revealed in court the amount of bail he received at the police station on Sunday.

Shortly after Aboud’s appearance, Alex Franco, 25, a contracted sales agent with Franco Foods, of Victoria Gardens, appeared before Antoine on two charges of being in possession of marijuana and devices for the illicit use of the drug at Victoria Gardens.

He pleaded not-guilty to the charges. The exhibits, which included three brown glass jars which all contained packets of marijuana; loose marijuana seeds; a pack of Broadway cigarettes; a digital scale and USB charger; vaping cartridges of sativa plant oil; rice wrapping paper; three roll-on marijuana cigarettes and TT$8,177 in cash and one United States dollar, were presented to the court by the police officer who charged him, PC Jugmohan.

Antoine was told the marijuana weighed 124.5 grammes and Franco’s attorney Suneesh Sungh asked that he continue on the $30,000 bail granted to him at the police station.

However, Antoine insisted that bail must be adjusted as, according to her, it must reflect what was before the court, and what was striking were some of the items allegedly found by police, in particular the sale and the cash.

She varied Franco’s bail to $120,000 to cover all the charges, to be approved by a clerk of the peace. However, Singh asked that she defer the change in bail since is client might not be able to immediately access it as his mother, who was in court, did not have the necessary documents with her for it to be approved given that it was already 2 pm.

Singh asked for a short adjournment and Antoine put the matter to Tuesday.

According to a statement from police, two men were arrested for possession of marijuana and narcotic related offences during a road traffic exercise in the Four Roads Police Station district between the hours of 1 am and 3 pm on Sunday.

The statement said, during the exercise police stopped a silver SUV at Victoria Avenue, Victoria Gardens, Diego Martin, and found a quantity of high-grade marijuana, marijuana in liquid form and several devices for the illicit use of the narcotics. There were two men in the vehicle.