One man was granted $1 million bail yesterday after he was charged with marijuana possession while the five other men jointly charged were remanded in custody and will reappear in court next week. Although he was granted bail, Adrian Mohammed, of Old Train Line, Southern Main Road, Claxton Bay, will have to provide two sureties, each valued at $1 million to be approved by a Clerk of the Peace.
Mohammed has also been ordered to surrender his passport or get a letter from the Immigration Department to confirm he was not the holder of such documentation. He was jointly charged with Daniel Everslie, Ricky Harriram and Reynold Harriram with possession of 39.5 kilos of marijuana. The four were arrested on November 18 at North Coast Road, Maracas Bay. Also arrested and charged in the same exercise was Marlon Boodram and Rodney Ramsawack.
Boodram and Ramsawack were charged with possession of 42.1 kilos of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. PC Williams of the North Eastern Division Task Force laid the charges. They appeared before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Court. Just as the case was called, attorney Criston Williams said he would no longer be representing Ricky Harriram.
After reading the charge to the men, Ayers-Caesar recorded a description of the exhibit which it is alleged the Harrirams, Everslie and Mohammed had been held with two crocus bags containing six packets of marijuana. In the midst of these proceedings, Ricky Harriram raised his hand and told the Chief Magistrate: “I guilty of this wuk. I get a wuk to go for this weed in Las Cuevas and it was all in my car.”
Ayers-Caesar then cautioned Harriram about his utterances as she advised him to get a lawyer. Submitting a bail application for Mohammed, Williams revealed the 24-year-old had been before the court in 2008, convicted of driving without a permit. He was fined $1,000 and his driver’s permit suspended for three years. Ricky Harriram, 27, admitted he had seven convictions and five pending matters before the San Fernando and Siparia Magistrates Courts.
His most recent conviction was six months ago for marijuana possession. According to Everslie’s criminal tracing, he has nine pending matters while Reynold Harriram had ten convictions and seven pending matters. Williams assured the court he would produce the court extracts when the men reappeared next week.
Although there were no objections to Mohammed being granted bail, the prosecutor objected to the other three being granted bail as he said: “Those gentlemen have a plethora of offences for which they are before the court today.” Ayers-Caesar said in a case where such concerns had been raised, the court had the authority to make a request of the prisons commissioner that the men be kept in a certain holding facility to protect them. The six are due to reappear on November 25.