A man accused of trafficking over $113M worth in cocaine was on Tuesday charged and remanded to prison. Ryan Da Silva of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) appeared before Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on December 18, 2021, at Tuschen, EBE, he had 17.4 kilogrammes of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking. He was represented by Attorney-at-Law Dexter Todd who asked the court to grant his client reasonable bail.
Facts presented by the court prosecutor stated that on the day in question, Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) ranks acting on information conducted narcotics operations in the Tuschen-Parika area, EBE.
During the operations, a car driven by Da Silva was intercepted. A search was conducted in the vehicle resulting in the discovery of 15 brick-like parcels suspected to be cocaine.
Da Silva was then arrested and escorted to CANU headquarters. At CANU headquarters, the parcels were tested and proven to be cocaine.
The Magistrate after listening to the facts remanded Da Silva to prison until January 6, 2022.
