Police report the weed is worth almost $20,000

It was definitely not a barrel of fun for a 75-year-old woman in Trinidad and Tobago who was discovered with just shy of eight kilograms of cannabis hidden inside a container this week.

A Twitter post from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service notes officers executed a search warrant on the woman’s home and ended up finding 12 brown packages containing 7.7 kilograms of weed hidden inside a barrel. The police estimate that the value of the cannabis is approximately $19,750.

The police report that the woman was arrested and the investigation is continuing.

Possession of 30 grams or less of cannabis (or five grams or less of cannabis resin) has been decriminalized in Trinidad and Tobago and adults can grow four cannabis plants.

With regard to trafficking, a person who is indicted could face a hefty fine and imprisonment of 25 years to life.

The arrest is certainly not the first time a senior has been busted for suspected cannabis.

This past January, 15 kilograms of weed was found hidden behind a false wall in a U.K. home, which police discovered after earlier busting a 65-year-old man on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

In October of 2021 in Ontario, a 70-year-old man was charged with impaired operation of a vehicle after a concerned citizen noticed a still-running, but not moving, vehicle in downtown Brantford. Upon rousing the sleeping driver, responding officers saw drug paraphernalia in clear view inside the vehicle.

Almost a year earlier in December 2020, an 81-year-old man faced charges under the Cannabis Act and the Criminal Code of Canada after police say their search revealed suspected cocaine and cannabis with an estimated street value of about $29,000 and more than $11,000 in cash.

The Trinidad and Tobago bust isn’t even the first time that illegal cannabis was found in a barrel.

A Guyanese husband and wife were arrested in early January 2021 after police found several large parcels of cannabis leaves, seeds and stems weighing more than four kilograms stashed inside a garbage bag hidden in a blue plastic barrel.