A pair of siblings from Arima have been freed of cocaine and marijuana possession after police were found to have fabricated evidence against them.
Doney Marcano, 32, and his 30-year-old sister Annalee, of Mt Pleasant Road, Arima, were freed of the charges by Senior Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan in the Arima Magistrate's Court, last Friday.
While police claimed that the drugs were found when a search warrant was executed at their home on April 10, 2008, the siblings brought a witness, who testified to seeing police finding the drugs in an empty lot next to the siblings' home and then planting it inside the house during the search. Police had testified that they had recovered 245.3 grammes of cocaine and 41 grammes of marijuana, which they claimed hidden in a bedroom.
Cardenas-Ragoonanan said she believed their claims over those of the police officers as she found them both not guilty.
Marcano was represented by Lyndon Leu, while Sgt Joseph Jugmohan prosecuted.