By Glenroy Sinclair,
Staff Reporter
PATROLLING THE deep blue sea at 15 knots aboard a 32-foot go-fast boat searching for contraband and persons involved in piracy or other illegal activities can be a challenging task for the Marine Police as they range up and down the island's coastline.
Especially when the sea is choppy and the boat has to be riding waves as high as five feet.
Last Friday a Marine Police team made up of Inspector Errol Forbes, Sergeant Oral Harrison, Corporal Dennyville Lyons, the engineer, and Constable Errol Powell, took a Gleaner news team on one of their routine patrols.
"Before anybody boards my boat you must have on a life jacket vest," warned Cpl. Lyons, the man at the wheel.
The team pulled out from its base at Newport East at 11.15 a.m. aboard "Alert II", the latest boat to join the Marine Police fleet. The boat was seized two years ago during a joint police/military operation in Jamaican waters.
In November last year it was officially commissioned into service by Assistant Commissioner Leebert Lawrence, who handed it over to the Marine Police Division.
"It can sail up to 60 knots", said Sgt. Harrison as the boat approached the channel, heading for Port Royal.
This means that the police can now match strides with go-fast boats suspected to be on drug missions.
By the time the lawmen reached the waters surrounding the Port Royal, they were ready for action, pulling along side a small boat with two teenagers.
"What you guys doing out here? How old are you?", Insp. Forbes asked. One was 17 and the other 16 years old of a Regent Street address, Denham Town, west Kingston. According to them, they were diving and shooting fish.
Routine patrols
"In our routine patrols we check for explosives, contrabands, and although it is not a law as yet, we stop boats and ensure that the passengers are wearing life jackets," said Sgt. Harrison.
The speed and manoeuvrability of the sleek "Alert II" was clearly demonstrated on Friday, as it took under four minutes from the Marine Police base to the mangroves near Port Royal.
This boosts the confidence of the Marine Police who are now better equipped to tackle the smuggling of illicit drugs by sea. "Alert II" is one of three go-fast boats handed over to the division recently. It can carry up to a dozen people and has a large sleeping area.
The boats had been seized from narcotics traffickers and was purchased by the government for the Marine Police at an auction. Go-fast boats have been used for the last several years by narcotics traffickers to smuggle drugs from one country to another.
"We have islandwide patrols on a 24-hour-a-day basis," said Supt. Elan Powell, the officer in charge of the Marine Police Division.
