TWO men were convicted by a jury on Wednesday of multiple firearm, ammunition and drug trafficking offences, following a trial arising out of a police operation in 2018.The men—Trevor Geeban, of Maraval, and Kadeem Weekes, of East Dry River, Port of Spain—were found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon (hand grenade), possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.The nine-member jury returned its verdict after deliberating for about 45 minutes.Led by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Dylan Martin, the prosecution contended that on August 18, 2018, shortly before midnight, police officers were on enquiries at the Tulsa Trace Picnic Site when they saw a grey Hyundai Tucson parked alongside a white Nissan Tiida.As the officers approached in a marked police vehicle, the Tiida sped off in the opposite direction. The two accused men and a third person exited the Tucson and ran towards a nearby river. Geeban was identified as the driver, while Weekes was the front seat passenger. The third man, who had been seated in the back, escaped by swimming across the river.Police chased after the men and detained Geeban and Weekes at the river bank before taking them back to the Tucson. A search of the vehicle uncovered ten packets of marijuana weighing about five kilogrammes, two firearms containing nine rounds of ammunition, boxes holding approximately 1,450 rounds of ammunition, and a grenade.According to the prosecution, when the items were discovered Geeban told officers: “I was just driving, the man bring that and put that in the van,” while Weekes said: “I see them bring a bag and bucket but I didn’t know what it had in it.”At trial, Geeban denied making the statement attributed to him.During the course of the trial, several expert witnesses were called by the prosecution, including a bomb expert from the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force who testified that the grenade was a high-explosive hand grenade.Geeban testified that he had been invited to a river lime and was picking up garbage when officers arrived. Under cross-examination, he was unable to give key details about the alleged gathering or the friend who invited him. Weekes did not testify.Following the guilty verdicts, both men were remanded into prison custody and are to be sentenced on June 15.Appearing alongside Martin for the State were attorneys Josiah Soo Hon and Khi Cambridge.