In what is being lauded as the largest maritime drug bust in Jamaica in more than 14 years, the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Narcotics Police and the Jamaica Defense Force allegedly intercepted a cocaine laden boat on a beach in Savanna-la-mar Westmoreland , estimated street value US$7.2 million (approximately J$1 billion).
According to Jamaican Media the The JDF reported that at approximately 1 a.m. on Monday a United States Maritime Patrol Aircraft spotted a vessel suspected of illicit trafficking heading towards Jamaica and informed the JDF headquarters. The information was passed to the JDF Coast Guard, which deployed patrol vessels to intercept and apprehend the go-fast boat. When spotted, the operators of the go-fast reportedly made efforts to evade capture and to jettison its cargo. The JDF, along with its Jamaica Constabulary Force Narcotics Division counterparts, then launched a rapid-response deployment involving elements of the JDF Air Wing for aerial support and infantry soldiers from the First Battalion the Jamaica Regiment, who were already deployed in Westmoreland on internal security duties. During the pursuit, the JDF Coast Guard fired warning shots across the bow of the vessel in what the army described as “keeping with international maritime law enforcement rules of engagement”.The vessel was eventually apprehended and four men, believed to be part of the suspected crew, were detained by the Narcotics Police who are handling the investigation. According to the same media report , head of the Narcotics police Senior Superintendent Calvin Small, said the men would be interviewed and a decision made if they should be charged.
To those opposed to the proliferation of drugs and it’s effects in our population the interception of this shipment is a welcome relief. Yet the fact that no one has been apprehended with a view to getting to it’s Genesis is yet another failing of the security apparatus following in the pattern of weapons and drug finds at the wharves which results in no arrests.
The Police being aware that the way this event was presented to the public created more questions than answers issued a statement which sought to clarify exactly what occurred.
According to the police’s own accounting : A joint police/military operation in Belmont District, Westmoreland intercepted a vessel carrying 36 bales of cocaine valued just under $1 billion (US$7.5). “Four men, who were observed abandoning the vessel and running off in different directions were pursued and taken into custody,” a CCU spokesman had said in the release on Saturday.
However, in a later release the CCU indicated that its initial report was not accurate. Quoting from the actual incident report, the CCU instead said the following:
“Approximately 1:00 a.m. a joint police and military team, which included the Jamaica Defense Force Air Wing and Coast Guard teams intercepted a blue 28-foot vessel, which was spotted coming ashore at Belmont. ‘On the approach of security personnel to the vessel, men aboard the vessel abandoned it and ran in different directions. Four men were subsequently held’.” The CCU also said that the four men were “duly processed” and interviewed in the presence of their lawyer and later released as investigators were reasonably satisfied that the evidence available did not link the men to the seizure. The CCU says it regrets the error and any inconvenience that may have been caused.
The CCU’s clarification in my estimation created more questions than answers.
If the Police’s version of events are to be believed, that they observed four men running from the boats and they apprehended them, under what plausible scenario in law would the police be able to say they were reasonably satisfied that the evidence available did not link the men to the seizure?
Did the Police in fact see the men running from the boat?
Did the Police apprehend the same men they allegedly saw running from the boat?
Neither the initial reporting nor the follow-up reporting said the police made a mistake about the men they allegedly saw running from the boat. Even if there were an instance of error involving the identity of one of the men, what are the chances the police would have nabbed four men who had nothing to do with the cocaine haul?
How could the men arrested by the police lawyer up so quickly, be interviewed and released so expeditiously in a case of this magnitude?
Despite what appears to be some back-slapping by local police and even their American counterparts from media reporting there appears to be a lot more to this cocaine bust than meets the eyes.
Whose drug shipment was it?
Why were the four men interviewed and released? Who provided them lawyers?
If the men were in fact on the boat there is no legal scenario in which they may be deemed innocent by the police unless they were there against their will, in which case a protracted investigation would have to occur to determine the veracity of their claim, as well as to determine who was responsible. This would have made releasing them impossible or at best impractical in such short a time.
If they were not on the boat then the police is saying by default they unequivocally lied about a major find which could have potentially put serious players in jail for a long time.
The country deserve to know the truth to this story which is shaping up to be a convoluted web of lies and deception.
The fact that the police is incapable of explaining how such a major drug find could result in no arrest and possible prosecution leaves the public to speculate as to what exactly occurred. If there was any covert involvement in the shipment, whether it involves Jamaica , the United States or any other country the Jamaican people must be made aware.
Nothing that the police has said thus far makes sense, it’s weak attempt at an explanation has once again cast the agency as an incompetent agency which can’t even explain it’s own lies.