A man who was found with seventeen marijuana seedlings in his possession was slapped with a fine of TT$15,000 with an alternative of one year in prison, when he appeared before a Siparia Magistrate on Monday. Forty-four year old Curtis Hospedales (in photo below) originally of Fyzabad Branch Road, Spring Trace, Siparia, was arrested and charged when police searched his home and found a soft drink case with the 17 marijuana seedlings. He appeared before Magistrate Margaret Alert where he pleaded guilty to the offence. Elsewhere, two men were held after officers of the North Eastern Division seized a quantity of marijuana at two houses in the San Juan district on Monday morning. During the exercises, officers of the San Juan and Santa Cruz Criminal Investigations Departments proceeded to houses situated in the Mission Road and El Socorro Extension in search of arms and ammunition. But at an abandoned house they found, wrapped in clear plastic, 7.5 kilograms of marijuana with estimated value of $75,000. Two suspects were arrested .