Nishart Samsundar sentenced 4 years imprisonment for trafficking 1.976 kgs of cannabis

Guyana: A 20-year-old Nishart Samsundar, resident of Timehri, East Bank Demerara, has been sentenced to four years imprisonment for the offence of smuggling 1.976 kgs of cannabis on Wednesday, 31st January 2024.

It is to be noted that the accused was presented before Magistrate S Scarce at the Diamond Magistrate Court, where the charges were read against him, and he pleaded guilty to both offences. The charges include,

• The offence of Possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking 1.976 kgs of cannabis.
• For the offence of cultivating a prohibited plant.

Moreover, Nishart Samsundar was fined GY$1,778,400 along with four years in prison for trafficking 1.976 kgs of cannabis; he was also jailed for four years for cultivating a prohibited plant. The two sentences would be served at the same time.

Notably, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit Officers conducted a crime eradication exercise at Hauraruni Village off the Soesdyke/Linden Highway. During the operation, the authorities observed two camps and a farm consisting of about 200 cannabis plants ranging from 2 ft to 4 ft and near about 5000 nursery cannabis plants.

While conducting the search, the officers found 100 lbs of cannabis leaves, seeds and stems and one 12-gauge cartridge. Subsequently, the plants and nearly 1000 pounds of cannabis were destroyed.

As a consequence, 33-year-old Nazelena Alli and 20-year-old Nishart Samsundar were both arrested and taken to the headquarters of Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit Officers along with cannabis and the cartridge.

Various residents of the community took to their social media accounts and shared their views on the matter. One person with a Facebook account, Keion Pestano, commented, “I still can’t understand why people are getting such punishment for a natural God-given plant, like every other plant, but alcohol and tobacco are free to use.”

Another person with a Facebook handle, Kalya Khan, commented the following: “They need to be free. They are not stealing anything from anyone.”