Rocky Point target man - Nicholas Graham on police radar since 2016; family claims years-long vendetta, trumped-up charge

When placard-bearing residents of Rocky Point mounted an angry protest against a police detention three days after a mystery plane crash-landed on January 23, it was a flash point that elevated a little-known Clarendon power broker to a national profile.

Police and soldiers held 44-year-old businessman Nicholas Graham, better known as ‘Pitty’, and conducted searches of his home in the seaside community as theories swirled about whether the deregistered 12-seater plane was on a drug mission. The occupants have not been located.

National security officials have been tight-lipped on the investigations, saying that they know who had manned the aircraft and that Jamaica was not their original destination. No cargo was reportedly found.

The convergence of Rocky Point’s reputation as a drug trans-shipment node and Graham’s still-lingering cocaine charge may have been linked to his detention, but he appears to be at the centre of a long-running investigation.

Senior Superintendent Glenford Miller, commander of the Clarendon Police Division, told The Gleaner that Graham, proprietor of White Sand Beach Seafood Restaurant and Grill, was handed over to the narcotics police in Kingston following an intelligence-based operation.

“It might not be just the plane incident, but other investigations,” was the only comment Miller offered on the probe.

Graham was arrested and charged for possession of cocaine a year and a half ago. Reports indicate that on Monday, July 15, 2019, Graham was stopped by the narcotics police on Highway 2000 in St Catherine. It is alleged that packages of food and condiments containing cocaine weighing more than six pounds were found in his black 2009 BMW. More than $300,000 was also reportedly found in his possession.

Graham declined comment for this story, referring T he Gleaner to Ian Wilkinson, QC, his lawyer.

Wilkinson said he would not comment on Graham’s ongoing cocaine charge in the courts but emphasised that the police had no credible case against his client in relation to the Rocky Point mystery plane.

“He was detained by the police on the Sunday and released by the Wednesday without being charged. They had no evidence against him,” said Wilkinson.

Graham’s parents have decried the allegations, claiming that the narrative of a strongman was rooted in vendetta and political intrigue. The cocaine charge, they say, was trumped up by police operatives determined to frame him.

“Them say him a PNP and him get Labourite beach. A the place a cause the problem. Look how long the place deh ‘bout and nobody never want it,” said Graham’s mother, Dorrette Johnson.

JUST A HUSTLER

Johnson described the first of her six children as a “hustler” who harboured dreams from childhood of becoming a businessman. That ambition, she said, led him to join her at the seaside, selling lobsters, before eventually venturing into salesmanship at age 15. She paints a picture of a self-made man driven by resourcefulness.

“When him come from school a evening time, him chop him lobster them. When him fi do him subjects, a him pay fi them, a him finance himself a school,” she said of the Vere Technical High School alumnus.

According to Johnson, her son’s life turned to misery five years ago when he opened his beachside business. She said that several unsubstantiated reports have been made against Graham, with the police labelling him a gang leader.

Graham’s entrepreneurial success make him a standout personality in Rocky Point, where he wields influence and enjoys goodwill as a community benefactor, cultivating a cult of loyalty that runs deep among residents.

Companies Office records show that Graham has spread his wings in less than a decade, with a clutch of businesses ranging from distributorships to investments.

Besides the White Sand Beach restaurant, he is listed as owner of Easy Go Round Dem Distributor, Echo Beats Production, PJB Distributor Seafood and Alcohol, and VIG Investment Solutions. He shares proprietorship of White Sand Beach restaurant with Randy Scott. Kavan Graham, Nicholas’ now-deceased brother, is also on record as co-owner.

Nicholas Graham’s wealth and soft power have raised scrutiny among police officials, his rags-to-riches rise an apparent talking point in law-enforcement circles.

That mystique, said Johnson, has caused Graham to be the victim of a witch-hunt - a sort of vengeful chastisement for “coming out of the slum”.

Graham is said to have played a paternal role in the lives of his half-siblings when their father died, including financing their tertiary education, his mother disclosed. Johnson described Graham’s journey to self-actualisation as a rocky road from rank poverty.

“The whole a we did live in a one likkle room, so dem nuh feel good fi see how dem a come up. When him did fi take Common Entrance, him couldn’t go ‘cause him never have no shoes and him miss the exam,” Johnson said of the transitional test from primary to high school that morphed into the current Primary Exit Profile.

The businessman’s father, Duncan Graham, said the last five years have been frustrating, referencing constant searches of his son’s Second Street home by the police. “Me woulda like it fi stop. Dem fi give him a break and make him survive,” he said.

According to Duncan, his son has bankrolled funeral expenses for many residents. The elder Graham said he is clueless as to why the police have been targeting the businessman over the years.

“Is the goodness weh him have in him and always a pity people make him name Pitty,” he told The Gleaner.

Duncan Graham said that his grief has been compounded by the fact that his younger son, Kavan Graham, died under questionable circumstances.

Kavan was among four Clarendon men who went missing in April last year. His decomposed body, along with four others, was later retrieved from a shallow grave at ‘Danger Island’ near the Sandy Gully in St Andrew in June. Kavan’s corpse reportedly bore a bullet wound to the side of his head.

“It pull me right up. Mi cyaa believe mi son go like that,” lamented the father.

Residents of Rocky Point have lauded Nicholas Graham as a philanthropist and community stalwart who hosts annual back-to-school-treats and finances the education of many students.

“Pitty is about community development. He gives employment to a lot of young people in Rocky,” a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Gleaner.

“If you can scrape fish, Pitty give you a job. If you can sweep, you get a job.”

Jennifer Harvey, 35, an employee at Graham’s White Sand Beach restaurant for three years, described him as a people person.

About 20 persons work for Graham, the majority of them from Rocky Point.

Graham’s niece, Shania, who also works at the facility, said that he filled the vacuum of her father’s absence in her life.

“He’s always there. He’s a shoulder to lean on,” Shania said, criticising the security forces’ treatment of Graham as unwarranted.

“... He was sitting next to me when the plane dropped, so as far as I can say, he is innocent.”

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