Cops destroy $2.3m ganja field in Moruga

IN a continued effort to clamp down on illegal drug operations nationwide, police held two major anti-narcotics exercises on April 11.

The officers destroyed an estimated $2.3 million worth of marijuana in Moruga and, in another exercise, arrested a man in the Belmont district for possession of marijuana and marijuana resin.

According to a police statement on April 12, police destroyed a marijuana plantation that consisted of about 2,000 plants, including fully-grown trees and 30 kilogrammes of cured marijuana.

The officers hiked about five kilometres into a dense forest along Trial Road, where they found the field.

The cured marijuana was in a drying house. The structure and crops were burnt by police.

The operation took place between 5.30 am and 12 pm and was led by the Special Intelligence Unit's Jungle Operations Team under the command of ACP Andy Teewarie.

Officers of the Air Support Unit, the Southern Division Task Force and the Southern Division Gang Unit were also involved in the operation.

The police said officers remain committed to its mandate to disrupt and dismantle all forms of illegal drug activity across the country.

Meanwhile, in an anti-crime exercise in Belmont, officers searched several homes and abandoned structures along Samuel Lane for illegal guns and ammunition.

The police went to First Avenue in Cascade, where they searched an apartment occupied by a 32-year-old man.

The officers found 200 grammes of marijuana along with several packets of cannabis resin and arrested the suspect.

He was taken to the Belmont Police Station.

Snr Supt Raymond Thom, Supts Nicholls and Jankie and ASP Soodeen of the CID co-ordinated the exercise, which Insp Yearwood-Hospedales, Sgts Bhagwandeen and Marclier led.

It included officers from the Port of Spain CID, the Intelligence Operations Unit, the Port of Spain Task Force, W/Cpl Nicome and the K9 Unit.