More int'l news in brief

Cops make TT$107m ganja find

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

National Security Minister Gary Griffith has welcomed the eradication of marijuana valued at TT$107 million (TT$1 = US$0.16) saying it is the largest drug discovery in Trinidad and Tobago.

"The National Operations Centre (NOC) successfully coordinated a joint NOC/TTPS (Trinidad and Tobago Police Service) marijuana eradication operation in the Biche forest," according to a statement issued by the National Security Ministry.

"This operation netted the destruction of marijuana fields to the street value of $107 million," the release stated. No one has been arrested as a result of the find.

NOC Director Commander Garvin Heerah said the exercise took place on Monday and that it was the start of "robust approaches" to ensure a "drug-free and safe country".

Griffith said the bust was the result of a tip-off and urged citizens to continue to "discredit and not look at the success" of this country's law-enforcement agencies.

He said much has been said about the US$100 million cocaine bust made in Norfolk by the Drug Enforcement Administration recently.

Cameraman convicted for having weed

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

A television cameraman has been jailed for three and a half years after he was found guilty of possession of marijuana with an estimated street value of TT$20,000 (TT$1 = US$0.16).

Senior Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Blake imposed the jail term on Russell Basdeo after he was found guilty of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking at the Tunapuna First Court on Tuesday.

Basdeo, 27, was charged with possession of 1.96 kilogrammes of marijuana after he was arrested on September 21, 2011, while driving along Uriah Butler Highway.

The court was told that Basdeo, a former freelance Crime Watch cameraman, was driving a vehicle belonging to WINTV when he was stopped by the law-enforcement officers and the drugs found following a search of the vehicle.