Aboud, of Cypress Boulevard, San Fernando, operates a clothing store in downtown Port-of-Spain.
Michael Patrick Aboud was charged with possession of three marijuana cigarettes, possession of two pieces of apparatus modified for cocaine consumption; and possession of a 9 mm firearm and 15 rounds of ammunition.
The illegal items were allegedly found as officers of the Special Operations Response Team, led by Police Commissioner Gary Griffith, executed a search warrant at a residential property at Alexandria Street in St Clair, owned by Aboud’s family, last Friday.
Aboud pleaded not guilty to the drug charges but was not called upon to plead to the firearm and ammunition charges as he elected to have those heard in the High Court before a judge as opposed to having them continue before Stroude.
During the hearing, police prosecutor Sgt Azard Ali said that Aboud did not fall under the provisions of the Bail Amendment Act, which precludes bail to repeat offenders charged firearm offences.
Ali explained that Aboud’s criminal record tracing showed that he had two pending cases from 1998 for resisting arrest and using obscene language and another from 2017 for drunk driving.
After making further checks in the court’s records, Ali informed Stroude that Aboud had additional charges from last year for assault causing actual bodily harm and for choking with intent.
However Aboud’s lawyer Fareed Ali asked that the court not place much emphasis on the charges from 1998 as they occurred when he was a teenager.
Ali also noted that Aboud had to be taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for treatment, several times during his stint in police custody.
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