Drug dealer gets one year

National, Normal
Source:

The National – Monday, June 20, 2011

By GABRIEL FITO
THE Wewak District Court sentenced a young man to 12 months in jail last Friday for being in possession of more than 18kg of marijuana.
Gibson Jerry, of mixed East New Britain and Sepik parentage, is a student at a College of Distance Education centre in Wewak.
Jerry was arrested by police at Wewak wharf with a suitcase and two bags containing 18.597kg of compressed marijuana.
Police also found 3,678 rolls of the drug last Wednesday.
He was arrested and charged by police with two counts under the Summary Offences Act for cultiva­ting marijuana and for being in possession of more than 18kg of the drug.
The court heard that Jerry cultivated the drug at Lufa, in Eastern Highlands, and was in the process of shipping it to Wewak to sell for  his school fees.
Presiding magistrate Christine Anawe struck out the charge on cultivating the drug because  the  police had solely  relied on Jerry’s story that he grew the illegal drug, rather than catching him themselves.
Anawe upheld the second charge of being in possession of the dangerous drug and proceeded with the hearing.
Jerry admitted that the drugs tendered in court as exhibits belonged to him and pleaded for leniency.
Jerry said he was a first time offender, expressed remorse and asked for the court to have mercy on him.
But Anawe said that the “law does not allow for drug offenders to pay a fine or be placed on good behaviour bond” and jailed him for 12 months in Boram jail.
The court ordered that the marijuana be burnt by the clerk of court and the prosecution by tomorrow.