A 26-year-old contractor from Belmont yesterday admitted to smuggling a small quantity of marijuana and smoking paraphernalia into the prime minister’s official residence in St Ann’s last week.
Jonathan Sammy made the confession after appearing before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court, charged with possession of marijuana and for a device used for the consumption of the illegal drug.
While Sammy pleaded guilty to both offences, he was not sentenced by Ayers-Caesar as his criminal record, obtained using his fingerprints, was still being processed by police when he appeared in court yesterday morning. Sammy was remanded into custody and ordered to reappear in court this morning.
Addressing Ayers-Caesar, Sammy, who was not represented by an attorney, said that he had forgotten the illegal items in his car when he went to the Diplomatic Centre at La Fantaisie Road, St Ann’s, last Thursday morning.
According to the evidence that was read in court by police prosecutor Insp Wayne Mohammed, Sammy, who was contracted to repair a fence at the property, was stopped at a security checkpoint after a Special Branch police officer noticed that his car smelt of marijuana. Sammy reportedly denied this, prompting the officer and his colleagues to perform a search.
They found a grinder containing marijuana remnants in the pocket of a pair of pants in the backseat.
“De boss, I forget that in dey,” Sammy reportedly told police after the items were found.
Although the items were seized, Sammy was initially released from police custody later that evening. However, a warrant was issued for his arrest the following day. Sammy eventually surrendered at the Belmont Police Station on Sunday night.
During yesterday’s hearing, Ayers-Caesar closely inspected the herb grinder, which is used to shred marijuana buds for smoking. Asked by the magistrate if he was aware that the device was illegal, Sammy said yes as he admitted that he “purchased it from a store about two or three months ago for $30.”
Last week’s incident comes a little over a year after former national security minister Jack Warner claimed that a quantity of marijuana was seized at former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s private residence in Philippine in 2013.
Warner had claimed that on April 12, 2013, former deputy commissioner of police Mervyn Richardson informed him (Warner) that several ounces of marijuana had been found at Persad-Bissessar’s house. Persad-Bissessar was in New York at the time. Warner said both former national security adviser Gary Griffith and former housing minister Dr Roodal Moonilal were aware of the find and had advised Persad-Bissessar of it.
A police investigation was initiated by acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to investigate the alleged “cover-up” of the incident. The investigation is still ongoing. A parallel investigation has also been launched by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).