Narcotics detectives continued their fight against the drug trade this week with another major ganja bust in separate operations in Kingston and Portland between Monday and Tuesday night.

A total of 1,598 pounds of compressed ganja, with a street value of $11 million, was seized. "Sixty-eight kegs of compressed ganja or 630 pounds were found along the Manchioneal beach in Portland, waiting to be picked up by a boat," said head of the Narcotics Division, Senior Superintendent Carlton Wilson.

Go-fast boats

According to him, the bad weather in Portland Tuesday night delayed the boat. "This is one of the areas that we are concerned about," he said. "We understand that from time to time go-fast boats are used to pick up drugs in Manchioneal and transport them to Haiti or the Bahamas."

The narcotics detectives said that on Monday night they detected a stash of compressed ganja, packed in the flooring of a 40-foot container at the APM in Kingston. The cache amounted to more than 968 pounds.

There were no arrests in both cases.

About three weeks ago, the Government received 10 of some 40 boats, which were purchased to monitor the island's coastlines. Reports are that the boats are not yet operational.