By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
The police say this is the house of Norris 'Deedo' Nembhard, 52, businessman of Cardiff Hall, near Runaway Bay, St. Ann, who was arrested on Wednesday on a warrant seeking his extradition to the United States on drug-related charges. - Contributed
THE POLICE continued to cast their dragnet over Jamaica's illegal drug trade yesterday with narcotics agents picking up four foreign nationals with alleged links to local traffickers.
The Constabulary Communication Network said those arrested were two Colombians, a Cuban and a Panamanian, who were all held in St. Ann.
According to Senior Superintendent Carl Williams, head of the Police Narcotics Division, Kingston, one of the four is an associate of Norris Nembhard, nicknamed 'Deedo', a 52-year-old businessman of Cardiff Hall, near Runaway Bay, St. Ann, who was among four men whose extradition is being sought by the United States government and who were arrested on Wednesday. The warrants allege their involvement in drug trafficking and related charges.
"Since last month we have executed warrants on eight drug suspects ... and we are still looking for more... We waited patiently, gathering our evidence," the Narcotics Chief said.
On Wednesday five Colombians and four Jamaicans were arrested during an international drug operation in St. James, St. Ann and the Corporate Area of Kingston and St. Andrew. The United States government is seeking the extradition of the Jamaicans. The police said they have so far seized six expensive motor vehicles from Nembhard, including a Mercedes Benz valued at $19 million. The police said they would be applying to the Government to forfeit property valued at $200 million which they have seized from the suspects.
UNDER INVESTIGATION
SSP Williams said that some of the suspects had been under investigation for the last four years. The Gleaner was told that since the execution of the extradition warrants several persons who have been under surveillance by the narcotics police have been withdrawing millions of dollars from their bank accounts. In one instance, one person withdrew close to $30
million in one transaction, sources told The Gleaner.
On Saturday, Glenford Williams, an inmate of the St. Catherine Correctional Centre, Spanish Town, was arrested on a warrant seeking his extradition to the United States. His brother, Robroy 'Spy' Williams, was among persons arrested last week with Nembhard. The police said that Glenford Williams is serving a two-year prison term in connection with a quantity of illegal drugs found in a cave last year at Latium, St. James. A warrant seeking extradition to the United States was executed last weekend on Luis Miguel Avila Arias, a Colombian national. He and three other foreigners were picked up by the police on Wednesday. Police investigations revealed that Avila Arias had been indicted by a US grand jury and had been living in Jamaica for sometime. The extradition detainees are to return to court on May 17.
The rounding-up of the drug suspects is being conducted by the Jamaican police, supported by their counterparts from the United States and United Kingdom.
