Police sergeant in major Westmoreland drug bust to know fate on December 3

Police Sergeant Christopher McDaniel of the Westmoreland Police Division, who is charged with breaches of the Dangerous Drugs Act, will know his fate on December 3 when Senior Parish Judge Sheron Barnes hands down the verdict in the Hanover Parish Court.

In an unsworn statement at his trial yesterday, McDaniel said that he had no knowledge that the freezer truck he was driving had 2,445 pounds of ganja in it.

The prosecution offered no evidence against his co-accused Tyee Kameka after his lawyer, Sheldon Campbell, made a no-case submission.

When the trial began in June, Ronald Dell, who was charged jointly with the men for possession of ganja, taking steps to export ganja and trafficking in ganja, pleaded guilty to the charges.

Dell will be sentenced on December 3.

The Crown, represented by Clerk of the Courts Gairy Reid, led evidence that in July 2017 a truck driven by McDaniel was intercepted by the police in Green Island, Hanover.

The truck reportedly contained 48 knitted bags with ganja weighing a total of 2, 445 pounds.

Investigations by Detective Inspector Shawn Barnett led to the men being charged with the offences.

McDaniel said yesterday that he had no knowledge that ganja was in the truck, which belongs to his brother-in-law.

He said he was called to assist in driving the truck for someone who could not manage the vehicle's clutch.

In his submissions, attorney-at-law H. Charles Johnson, who is representing McDaniel, asked the judge to free him arguing that there was no evidence that he had knowledge of the contents in the truck.

However, Reid argued that the four police witnesses gave credible and unchallenged evidence of McDaniel's guilt.

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