A former police constable has been sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of trafficking cocaine and cannabis stemming from a drug bust in January 2023.
Albert Beresford, who was stationed at the Clonbrook Police Station at the time of the offence, admitted to the charge during his arraignment.
With time already served since his arrest in 2023, Beresford now has a few more years left to complete his sentence.
He appeared before Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, where the sentence was recently handed down.
Beresford, who was interdicted from duty at the time of his arrest, had in his possession of 170 grammes of cocaine and 9.4 kilogrammes (9,430 grammes) of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
The incident occurred on January 16, 2023, at Cove and John, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
According to the police, on the day of the offence, ranks intercepted a Toyota Premio motor car being driven by Beresford.
Also in the vehicle were Police Constable Julius Cambridge and a mason, Sheldon Benjamin. The occupants reportedly displayed suspicious behaviour, prompting officers to conduct a search of the car and its passengers.
During the search, police found a grey and black travelling bag containing two parcels and a container with leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis.
Further inspection uncovered another container in the same bag with several parcels of rocklike substances suspected to be cocaine.
The three men were arrested and taken to the police station, where the narcotics were weighed. The cocaine totalled 170 grammes, and the cannabis weighed 9.4 kilogrammes.
In addition, a more thorough search of the vehicle led to the discovery of several rounds of ammunition: two .38 rounds, two .40 rounds, and eleven 9mm rounds.
