MORE THAN 3,300 pounds of compressed ganja, disguised among a shipment of Red Stripe beer destined for the United States, was seized by the Jamaica Customs Contraband Enforcement Team (CET) during an operation at Kingston Wharves on Monday.
Red Stripe, brewers and bottlers of the internationally-renowned beer, has not commented directly about whether the ganja, which has an estimated street value of US$6.7 million (about J$396.5 million), was seized among its cargo.
However, in a statement, the company said that "in order to facilitate the work of the Police Narcotics Division, Red Stripe has to refrain from commenting on the investigation currently underway."
In the statement from Grace Silvera, Communications and Conversion Director, Red Stripe said "we are co-operating fully with the authorities and as soon as the investigation is complete we will share the outcome with the media."
The Jamaica Customs Department said the illegal drug was concealed in a container that was intercepted during what is described as a counter-narcotics operation on the Kingston Wharves, Newport West.
In a release, Customs said the shipment was destined for Connecticut, United States and was scheduled to leave Kingston Wharves on board the vessel, Box Newyork.
TAMPERED
Officers attached to the Contraband Enforcement Team had targeted the container for inspection after detecting that someone had apparently tampered with the locking bars on the storage.
According to Customs, the officers conducted a thorough examination of the container, during which they found several knitted nylon bags, each containing taped packages of ganja. It said "the bags were interspersed among the legitimate cargo, which consisted of several cases of Red Stripe beer."
The shipment was found to contain 67 bags of ganja, together weighing 1,535 kilograms or 3,378 pounds. The Customs Department said the matter was being investigated.
