By Glenroy Sinclair,Staff Reporter
Ancillary staff at the Police Narcotics Division headquarters, 230 Spanish Town Road, Kingston, help unload more than 3,500 lb. of compressed ganja found in two containers. The drug was seized on Sunday at Gordon Cay, but the containers were stripped yesterday by the police. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
TWO CONTAINERS with more than 3,500 lb. of compressed ganja were seized at Port Bustamante, Kingston, on the weekend, in an operation by the narcotics police.
"One of the containers had 1,954 pounds of ganja," Senior Supt. Carl Williams, head of the Narcotics Division, told The Gleaner yesterday.
Up to late yesterday evening, the shipment of ganja in the second container was still being checked by narcotics detectives at their Spanish Town Road headquarters, Kingston. The narcotic's chief said the shipment could exceed 2,000 lb.
The ganja which was concealed among agricultural produce, was seized on Sunday in an intelligence-driven operation. The large parcels of compressed ganja were wrapped neatly in brown-and-black cellophane paper.
Some were hidden among more than 1,000 boxes of yams, while others were packed in the interior of a container. No one was arrested.
"The shipments were destined to the United States. We are following the paper trail and we are getting somewhere," SSP Williams said yesterday.
One of the containers was destined for New York, while the other was to be sent to New Jersey.
Contraband Enforcement Team officers were alerted to the containers, as persons involved in shipping them were on a watchlist.
After the containers were checked initially at Gordon Cay, they were sent to the Narcotics Headquarters, 230 Spanish Town Road, for further stripping.
Last year with the assistance of the Jamaica Defence Force and other police personnel, the narcotics police seized 27,030 kilograms of ganja, 497 kilograms of hash oil, 11.74 kilograms of hashish, 2,715 pieces of crack cocaine and 79 ecstasy tablets.
In other anti-drug operations, the narcotics police seized 62 motor vehicles, 15 boats, two aircraft and five shipping containers. The police said 5,075 persons were arrested. According to the police, 300 hectares of ganja were destroyed, along with 4.8 millions seedlings in 144 nurseries.
