2 women remanded over 345lbs ganja bust

Two women, who were arrested last weekend after police uncovered more than 300lbs of ganja along the West Coast of Berbice, have now been remanded to prison.

The two women, 33-year-old Shamay Bryan and Sarafina Cheddy, both of Smithfield, New Amsterdam, were this morning arraigned before Magistrate Michelle Matthias at the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court.

They are charged with possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, following the discovery of 345.8 pounds of suspected cannabis during a police stop-and-search operation along the Number 10 Public Road, West Coast Berbice, on Saturday morning.

Police told the court that the quantity recovered is considered a significant narcotics find for the division and forms part of ongoing intelligence-led operations targeting drug trafficking routes between Berbice and other parts of the country.

Police say the women were occupants of a motorcar that was intercepted around 07:20hrs, during which ranks discovered several brown salt bags and black garbage bags in the vehicle’s trunk, containing bulky parcels wrapped in transparent plastic and suspected to be cannabis.

In court, both Bryan and Cheddy pleaded not guilty to the charge and were remanded to prison. They are scheduled to return to court on March 26.

During the hearing, Bryan told the court that she operates a grocery business at Smithfield, while Cheddy stated that she is a housewife.

However, police prosecutor Sergeant Garfield Edwards informed the court that Cheddy is a former member of the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) and is already before the court on a similar narcotics charge.

Edwards said Cheddy is currently on $100,000 bail in that matter, which dates back to December 2022, when, then using the name Sarafina Pitt, she was allegedly arrested at the New Amsterdam Prison with 500 grams of cannabis.

That case is still pending before the court.