Million$ drug bust - Ganja valued at J$10.5m seized, three Bahamians nabbed

Western Bureau:

THE SECURITY forces scored a major victory in their fight against drug dealers on Thursday when they seized 2,620 pounds of ganja, valued at approximately J$10.5 million. The weed was confiscated in an operation at Lances Bay, Hanover, in which three Bahamian nationals were arrested.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Jeffrey Lecky, the officer in charge of narcotics in Area One, the contraband was found during an operation that lasted more than six hours and featured military and police personnel.

“During the marathon operation, which was conducted between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) Narcotics Division and the Jamaica Defence Force seized approximately 2,600 pounds of compressed ganja, which was found at premises in Lances Bay, Hanover,” said Lecky.

“The operation was extended to Negril, Westmoreland, where three male Bahamian nationals, who entered the island illegally, were arrested at a property in West End.”

In keeping with the Government’s health and safety COVID-19 protocol, the three Bahamians were placed in quarantine to determine their health status.

“They will be interviewed in the presence of their attorneys in due course,” said Lecky, who noted that the police are quite concerned about the frequency of drug seizures in western Jamaica as it relates to foreign nationals, who have entered the island illegally.

According to Lecky, over the past weekend, a Haitian national was arrested during another major operation in which more than 15,000 pounds of ganja was seized in Trelawny.

“This frequency indicates elevated risks posed to the country by criminals who are illegally harbouring their counterparts from abroad who could infect citizens with the COVID-19,” said the senior policeman.

“While investigations in these incidents are ongoing, the police are appealing to citizens to report any activities relating to the handling of dangerous drugs and the presence of any foreign nationals, who are suspected to be in the island illegally,” added Lecky.

Despite the arrest, and in some cases the extradition of top-flight drug dealers from western Jamaica, the region remains a hotbed of drug smuggling between Jamaican criminals and their counterparts in Central and South America. Gangsters from the region have also been linked with the guns-for-drugs trade, involving Haitians.