PREMISES BEING used as "crack houses" in central Kingston have been targeted for forfeiture as provided under Jamaican law, says Supt. George Quallo, head of the Kingston Central Police Division, with headquarters on East Queen Street.
Supt. Quallo, who says he is now mapping strategies to rid the divisions of crack houses, has the full backing of Police Commissioner Francis Forbes.
"We are going to prosecute the owners of these premises and also ask for forfeiture of these premises," Commissioner Forbes said on Wednesday.
The Kingston Central police said they have arrested two men since they began "intelligence-driven drug raids" in their area on Monday. They are Roger Ennis, 42, of 17 Stephen Lane, and Jeremiah Bailey, 42, of 17 Byndloss Lane. They are facing charges of possession of crack cocaine and dealing in crack cocaine.
The police said they had identified several crack houses in their division. Supt. Quallo said his team would be probing premises where illicit drugs are being sold and used. The users of the illicit drugs would be targeted and removed from the streets.
"I know it will not be an easy task; we are not only going after the users and land owners, but also the big men who are involved," Supt. Quallo said.
He expressed concern about the numerous young lives which he said were being wasted because of drug addiction.
On March 26, 1997 Commissioner Forbes told a Rotary Club of Downtown Kingston luncheon that the police were putting together a list of properties for the forfeiture of which applications would be made. He said that between 20 and 25 such properties islandwide qualified for forfeiture, with most being in the Corporate Area, and the others being in St. James, St. Ann and St. Elizabeth.
But only one property has been forfeited so far under The Drug Offences (Forfeiture of Proceeds) Act, 1994 which came into effect on August 15 that year.
It was a $6.5 million house at East Kirkland Heights, Red Hills, St. Andrew, which belonged to East Kingston businessman Errol "Bobby Reds" Leys.
In a landmark ruling on February 20, 1998, the Supreme Court ordered that Leys's two-storey three-bedroom house be forfeited to the Crown under The Drug Offences (Forfeiture of Proceeds) Act which was then three and one half years old. It provides for the seizure and forfeiture of assets of persons convicted of drug offences.
Leys had been convicted of possession of 15 kilos of hash oil, a derivative of ganja, which the police said they had found at the house. He was fined and sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
However the court ordered that Leys's mother, whose lawyers convinced the court that she had a one-third interest in the house, be given her share of the proceeds.
Yesterday the police said that several other premises are being processed through the legal channels, with a view to have them forfeited.
However, the law states that for a
forfeiture application to succeed, it must be made within six months of the conviction of the person who owns the "tainted property".
