Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

The body of a marine diver who the police suspected was attempting to affix a canister with more than 100 pounds of compressed ganja to the hull of a ship, was fished from the Kingston Harbour yesterday.

"The body had a large wound to the face," head of the Marine Division, Superintendent Marlon Dietrich, told The Gleaner.

Reports are that the body, which was still unidentified up to yesterday afternoon, was discovered floating in the vicinity of Gordon Cay, an area where the Marine police found a canister with compressed ganja two days ago. The deceased was attired in a dive suit.

According to the police, the diver was found with an oxygen tank on his back, while another tank was observed floating nearby. Several tools, including a hacksaw and an adjustable spanner, which is used to secure canisters to ships, were found in the diver's possession.

The police believe the diver was under water attempting to affix the canister of ganja to one of the commercial vessels in the harbour, when his face was chopped by a ship's propeller.

While the police are trying to ascertain his identity, they have received reports that a St. Elizabeth woman has filed a report that her husband who is a diver has been missing. The lawmen are now probing the matter to establish whether the deceased is the woman's husband.

A dozen canisters

Since January, the Marine police have seized about a dozen canisters with compressed ganja, which are smartly wrapped and sealed in the metal frame. These frames are then affixed to commercial vessels destined for North America or the United Kingdom.

At least three divers who were contracted by business interests to search for these canisters, prior to the departure of the vessels, were hunted and killed. Since then, the task has been undertaken by members of the security forces.

But drug smugglers are now contracting their own divers in their efforts to get the drug out of the island. The improved security measures at the island's ports of entry has forced drug traffickers to seek more novel ways of smuggling the illicit drug.