Two men who were caught red-handedly cultivating marijuana and having a rifle and rounds of ammunition in Tamana last week were on Monday fined $10,000 by a Master of the High Court at Sangre Grande.
The TTPS said Saleem Villaruel, 21, of Guaico, Tamana Road, and Azizi Williams, 42, of Robinson Trace, Damarie Hill, Sangre Grande, both unemployed, who pleaded guilty to the offences of cultivating in cannabis, possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of ammunition were given the fines by Master Sarah De Silva.
The duo was given three months to pay the fine or will face imprisonment of nine months hard labour on the cultivating in cannabis offence of possession of ammunition offences, respectively, and two years hard labour on the offence of possession of a prohibited weapon.
The accused were arrested on February 8th and jointly charged on February 13 on PC Singh of the Eastern Division Gang and Intelligence Unit (EDGIU) following a surveillance exercise at a campsite 12 kilometres into a forested area of Romain Trace, Guaico, Tamana.
During the exercise, EDGIU and Multi-Operational Police Section officers observed two men reportedly tending to a marijuana field with approximately 1024 full-grown marijuana trees and an estimated 1000…