WARRANT FOR EX-FLYING SQUAD COP

POLICE have obtained a warrant for the arrest of an ex-Flying Squad officer after 26 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana was allegedly found at his Port-of-Spain home over the holiday weekend by officers of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit (OCNU), sources have told Newsday. The ex-constable was not at home when the party of OCNU officers searched his house on Labour Day morning, police sources confirmed. However, senior officers said the former officer’s ageable mother and two other disabled relatives, one a female, were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. The three, who were in the house at the time, are due to appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate today to answer the charge laid by an officer of the OCNU. Police sources said the party of OCNU officers, headed by ASP Franklyn Edwards and others, executed a search warrant for dangerous drugs at the man’s house, after receiving certain information.

The 26 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana were reportedly found on the premises and the illicit drugs have an estimated street value of $180,000. After the discovery, police sources said a warrant was obtained for the ex-officer’s arrest. He is to be charged for a similar offence as his mother and other siblings, police said. He had not been arrested up to late evening and colleagues of the former officer appealed to him to surrender to the relevant authorities, and not cause shame on himself. Senior police officers told Newsday that the officer resigned from the service a “long time” ago and had always been associated with illegal activities. Investigations, spearheaded by OCNU head, Snr Supt Kathleen Weekes, are continuing.