THREE WOMEN, who are reported to have passed out more than 200 pellets of cocaine over the weekend after being hospitalised, were charged yesterday with illegal possession of the drug.
They are 34-year-old Sophia Clarke, of Faiths Pen, St. Ann, who passed out 86 pellets; Diane Kelly, a 29-year-old office clerk of Jermaine Road, Bridgeport, St. Catherine, who passed out 73 pellets; and 25-year-old Keisha Pitter, of Campden district, Race Course, Clarendon, who ingested 50 pellets.
"They have been charged with possession of, dealing in and taking steps to export cocaine," said Corporal Georgia Brown of the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN).
Clarke and Kelly were among five persons taken off a flight, which was about to leave for the United Kingdom on Friday, at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston. The five were hospitalised at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), but Clarke and Kelly were discharged on Sunday and taken to one of the Corporate Area's police lock ups where they were criminally charged yesterday.
THREE OTHER WOMEN
The three other women held at the Norman Manley International Airport on Friday were still in hospital yesterday.
Meanwhile, Pitter was scheduled to leave the island last Friday but before leaving for the airport she complained of feeling ill. "She was taken to the Lionel Town Hospital in Clarendon, but was later transferred to the Mandeville Regional Hospital. She is to appear before the Manchester Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday," said Sergeant Paulette Knight, the CCN's liaison officer for Clarendon.
Since the start of the year, at least 10 persons who ingested cocaine have died, while over 150 have been jailed.
"A lot more are dying and a lot more will be going to prison," said Senior Superintendent Carl Williams, the island's narcotics chief, who spoke with The Gleaner yesterday. "We are extremely concerned about the number of persons ingesting cocaine and attempting to smuggle it overseas. It is a very dangerous thing to get into and the people who are recruiting them (couriers) are not telling them about the danger. They only tell them about what they can achieve," said Mr. Williams.
It is understood that couriers are paid close to $300,000 per person to smuggle the drug out of Jamaica.
