36 months jail for woman caught with Marijuana in panties

[www.inewsguyana.com] – A vendor was on Thursday sentenced to thirty-six months in prison after she was found guilty of a drug trafficking charge by Magistrate Judy Latchman.

Thirty-five-year-old Natasha Jordon, of PP 6 Bent Street, Wortmanville was on trial for the allegation which read that on April 10, she had in her possession 43 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

The Court heard that on the day in question the Police had gone to the woman’s residence where they conducted a search on the defendant’s shop.

During the search, the Police noticed the woman stuffing a black plastic bag into her underwear.  She was subsequently asked by the police to remove the bag, and upon opening the bag, the police found 33 transparent plastic bags containing a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems – suspected to be cannabis.

Under caution, the woman had told the Police “is a brethren pass and I buy it fuh $4,000. I didn’t sell it all the time.”

 Jordon’s attorney Dexter Todd had argued these allegations, claiming that the alleged narcotic was found in the shop behind a door.

During the trial, he argued that there is no nexus between the drug and his client since the shop is a public place, which is frequently visited by persons.

He also alleged that before his client was taken to the police station she was forced to change her clothing in front of the policemen.  The lawyer iterated that it is mandatory that a female officer be present to arrest a woman.

Jordan who was brought before the court before for an offence of a similar nature in 2001 has a 14-year-old son.

In delivering the ruling, the Magistrate stated that she doubted Jordon’s claims that she does not have any knowledge of the narcotics.

She stated that the defendant was in physical control of the drugs, and it was her belief that Jordon was in possession of the substance for the purpose of trafficking.

In addition to the prison sentence, Jordan has to pay a fine of $64,000.