A 28-year-old Coryal man was granted $10, 000 bail when he appeared before a Sangre Grande Magistrate charged with failing to have in his possession, a memorandum of sale or delivery (receipt), deed or lease for agricultural land with respect to agricultural produce he had in his possession.
At around 11:00am on Thursday 25th June 2020, a party of officers of the Praedial Larceny Squad led by Corporal Jeffers and including PC Khemraj, PC Pattoo and WPC Rampersad as well as Sergeant Riley and PC Gooding of the Cumuto Police were conducting enquiries into a series of praedial larceny in the Coryal district when they observed 28 year old Ronell Prescott standing along the street with a quantity of green figs and chataigne seeds and acting suspiciously.
The officers approached the man and asked him if he had any agricultural lands or a receipt for the said items. Prescott, however, indicated that he had no agricultural lands nor was he a farmer. He was also unable to provide a receipt for the agricultural produce and was unable to tell officers how he came into possession of the it.
The man was arrested and taken, along with the agricultural produce to the Cumuto Police Station. The items were weighed and the green fig amounted to 686lbs with a value of $3,430, while the chataigne seeds weighed 89lbs and were valued at $445.
Thee man charged with failing to have in his possession a memorandum of sale or delivery. The charge was laid by Corporal Jeffers. Prescott pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Sangre Grande Magistrate Ramkissoon and was placed on $10,000 bail to re-appear in court on September 29th.
Meanwhile, farmers of the Coryal and surrounding districts praised the efforts of the Praedial Larceny Squad saying this arrest will send a clear message to other thieves in the area. The farmers lamented that they are constantly at the mercy of thieves who continue to steal thousands of dollars of agriculture produce from the area and also called on the Squad, to have intensified patrols in the area.
