The 22-year-old former University of the West Indies student who was arrested last week for growing high potent marijuana inside an apartment will appear before a Tunapuna Magistrate today.
The former business and information technology student faces a charge of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking after police seized over $500,000 worth of the drug. The suspect, of Diego Martin, was arrested in an apartment near the university's St Augustine campus hours after they found his illegal farm at another apartment one street away last Thursday.
Police made the first raid around 7 am on Thursday when they searched an apartment at Bedessie Street. When they entered they found all the furniture had been removed and replaced with LED lamps and plant pots containing over 100 marijuana plants. An industrial air purification unit was being used to conceal the pungent smell produced by the flowering plants.
According to reports, police returned to the area around 5 pm that day after they received information the suspect was hiding out in another apartment on Old Tim Street. Investigators caught the suspect attempting to dispose of a large bag of marijuana by flushing it down the toilet. He was stopped and the drugs, which weighed a little over 900 grammes, seized.
Police also found a notebook which contained the names and telephone numbers of the suspect's customers, their orders and outstanding payments owed to him. He reportedly told police he elected to drop out of university last year after he realised he could make more money from growing and selling marijuana.