Court refuses bail for vendor

By JAMES GUMUNO
THE Hagen District Court has refused bail for a street vendor arrested allegedly with 103 rolls and a large pack of marijuana at Mt Hagen city.
Ako Pusame, 20, from Yako village in Enga, was arrested on Saturday opposite the Mt Hagen main market. Prosecutor Benny Kongua claimed that Pusame was selling marijuana rolls along with betel nuts and cigarettes when police approached and arrested him.
He was charged with possession of the dangerous drugs and remanded in custody.
He pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court yesterday and told the court that he only sold betel nuts and cigarettes.
He said when police approached his table, one of the boys around him quickly put his marijuana rolls and a pack into his stock-feed bag where he kept his betel nuts, mustard and lime.
He told the court that the marijuana rolls and the pack were not his and denied possession of the drug.
“I do not know who put the marijuana rolls and pack into my bag and ran away,” he said.
Magistrate Jacinta Doa adjourned the case to tomorrow for trial.