Bail was granted TO Customs Officer Desmond Lewis who is charged with possession of one pound of marijuana and intent to supply it to others after the contraband was allegedly found in his vehicle at Golden Grove on Monday.
Magistrate Conliffe Clarke set bail at $15,000 with a cash requisite of $1,500 and the accused had to get two sureties to sign as assurance he will return to court on each date set hereon.
While he is out, the accused is required to report to the All Saints Police Station every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the Office of National Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy (ONDCP) confirmed yesterday.
Lewis, who was represented by attorney Ralph Francis, is to return to court on May 23rd for trial.
ONDCP alleges that it busted the Customs employee with $4,500 worth of cannabis during an operation in Golden Grove on Monday.
A source close to the matter earlier confirmed to OBSERVER media that the drugs with which Lewis was allegedly found were recently smuggled into Antigua through the Port Authority.
The Customs officer’s case is linked to the same operation in which 37-year-old Laurie Kenroy Marshall was shot and apprehended in Bolans around noon on Monday.
Up to yesterday he remained hospitalised, presumably under heavy guard by law enforcement.
The ONDCP alleges that when it intercepted Marshall, it found four packages of cannabis – suspected to have also entered the country through the Port – in the vehicle he was driving.
Once discharged, Marshall would be detained for questioning as the probe continues.
Efforts to reach Customs officials to ascertain Lewis’s status with the department were unsuccessful.