A man who said he trafficked marijuana to earn money to give his 4-year-old daughter a birthday surprise had to come up with EC$890 to avoid prison.
On Monday, at the Serious Offences Court in Kingstown, Chinglee Dick, 31, of Mesopotamia, pleaded guilty to a charge that on Friday in Kingstown, he had 2.5 kilograms (4.7 pounds) of cannabis in his possession with the intent to supply it to another.
He also pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking charge in relation to the marijuana.
The court heard that at about 9:30 a.m. on Friday, police officers were at the Grenadines Wharf, in Kingstown, carrying out random searches on motor vehicles transporting items to be shipped to the Grenadines.
Dick was driving motor vehicle PE378, a white Nissan, and police stopped him, requesting a search of the car.
He alighted, consenting to the search, and accompanied the police to the back of the car.
He opened the trunk and police observed a green-and-white Coreas shopping bag containing three transparent plastic bags with brown tape.
Police opened the taped bags to find six bags containing cannabis amounting to 2,119 grammes.
In mitigation, Dick asked Chief Magistrate Colin John for mercy, telling the court that he wanted to sell the cannabis to pay for a surprise birthday party for his daughter on her 4th birthday, on Tuesday.
Asked by the chief magistrate where he was going with the cannabis, Davis said Bequia.
“I normally go Bequia to sell provisions,” Dick told the court and further said that he usually sells coconut water.
Asked if he was “trying a little thing” with the cannabis to make more money, Davis replied:
“My daughter’s birthday is coming up tomorrow so I tried to give her a little surprise.”
He told the court that he has another child who was born in December.
Following the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s Sentencing Guidelines, the chief magistrate imposed a fine of $890 to be paid forthwith.
Dick paid the fine as ordered and left the court.