Penal man guilty of trafficking ganja

A PENAL man was found guilty of trafficking in marijuana, while his cousin was freed of the same charge in the San Fernando High Court yesterday. Anthony Alph-onzo, 22, of Penal Rock Road, was remanded in custody until next Friday when he will be sentenced by Justice Mark Mohammed. Alphonzo’s cousin, Torrence Leben, was found not guilty. A third man, Choy Aping, who was jointly charged with Alphonzo and Leben, was discharged of the offence last week.

Alphonzo was represented by Stedman Jack, while Michael Persadsingh was Leben’s lawyer. According to the case presented by State attorney Brambhanan Dubay, on November 17, 2001, PCs Badree and Ramlochan caught Alphonzo placing a black bag containing the narcotics in a refrigerator at his home. When Alphonzo saw the cops he fled from the house and escaped through nearby bushes. The State alleged Leben was sitting on a bucket outside the house when police carried out the raid. Leben told the court he had just returned from planting corn and was walking down the steps after getting a drink of water, when he saw police jeeps parking in front of the house.  Leben said he did not know about marijuana being in the house and did not see his cousin with the bag by the refrigerator. Following the raid, Leben was taken to Penal Police Station and was charged with marijuana trafficking. Later that day, Alphonso surrendered to the police and admitted the illegal drugs belonged to him.