40-year-old pleads guilty to class B drug possession
A man who asked hotel staff to watch out for a parcel he was expecting was arrested after it turned out to contain more than six kilogrammes of drugs.
40-year-old Mario Maou of Eversley Road in Upper Norwood in South London admitted two charges when he appeared before magistrates at Douglas Courthouse.
He pleaded guilty to being concerned in producing cannabis to the Isle of Man and attempting to possess the class B drug with intent to supply it on 29 July.
Prosecution advocate Barry Swain said the painter had been staying at a hotel on Loch Promenade in Douglas when he approached a manager.
Maou told the manager he was waiting for a package which had someone else’s name on it and asked him to let him know when it arrived.
But after his request aroused suspicion, the parcel was intercepted and opened by Post Office staff and police officers – inside was 6,587 grammes of cannabis, worth £131,750.
Magistrates heard Maou had a significant number of criminal convictions in the UK but none for drug offences.
There was no bail application, and Maou was remanded in custody to appear before the Court of General Gaol Delivery on 9 August.
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