A 29-year-old medical doctor has been fined $14,000 for the possession of dangerous drugs including psilocybin commonly called mushrooms.
Andell Jaggernath, of Diamond Village, San Fernando, pleaded guilty before Sangre Grande Magistrate Cheron Raphael on Wednesday.
He was fined $6,000 on a charge of possession of psilocybin commonly called mushrooms for the purposes of trafficking; $4,500 on a charge of possession of ecstasy charge; and $3,500 on a charge of possession of ketamine.
Jaggernath was given six months to pay the fine or serve nine months hard labour in default.
A release from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) on Monday stated, He was arrested on October 3 and charged on October 4 by PC Johnson, of the Valencia Police Post, who continued enquiries into the discovery of the narcotics during a routine traffic stop.
According to police reports, at 4.40 pm on October 3, 2023 police officers were on enquiries along the Eastern Main Road, Valencia, when in the vicinity of the Valencia Bypass Roundabout, they observed a white Hyundai Tucson in a stationary position facing west along the eastbound lane.
Police officers stopped and engaged the occupants of the vehicle when they detected a strong scent of cannabis emanating from the vehicle.
The lawmen alighted from the police vehicle and subsequently conducted a search of the vehicle in the occupants’ presence.
While searching the contents of a black drawstring tote bag on the rear seat of the vehicle, police found two transparent plastic packets containing a powder-like substance, a larger transparent plastic packet containing six smaller transparent plastic packets each containing a brown translucent, solid substance, a transparent plastic packet containing dried plant-like material resembling that of dried mushrooms and a transparent, square plastic container containing similar plant material.
The men were then detained.
Following further investigations, the driver indicated that the items, 1.6 grammes of ketamine, 1.7 grammes of ecstasy and 5.3 grammes of shrooms, were for his recreational use.
