Dwight Nelson, Gleaner Writer

Operation Kingfish put another dent in the illicit drugs-for-guns trade yesterday, hauling in more than 700lb of compressed ganja and two 45-gallon drums of fuel along the island's south coast.

A Toyota Probox motor car, loaded with the drugs, was also seized during the 3 a.m. operation in the Jackson Bay area of Portland Cottage, Clarendon.

According to police reports, on arrival near the Jackson Bay Gun Club, a man on a go-fast boat and others on the beach fired on law enforcement officers, including members of the Area Three Flying Squad. The boater was shot and injured by the cops. The others fled the scene.

The injured man was taken to the Lionel Town Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The police have withheld his name pending further investigations.

Well known

The police said the driver of the Probox motor car is well known to them and was yesterday being sought for questioning.

"This is part of the drugs-for-guns trade with criminals in Jamaica and their counterparts in Haiti and other Caribbean territories," said Detective Sergeant Jubert Llewellyn, spokesman for Operation Kingfish.

He added: "We will be continuing operations of this nature to ensure that the drugs and guns, as well as wanted men, are removed from the streets as well as the communities."

The police have called on residents of communities plagued by drug-running to partner with them in flushing out criminals.