Hundreds of pounds of ganja recovered at sea

| 02/11/2011

(CNS): Police say that five men are in police custody and hundreds of pounds of ganja have been recovered following a pursuit at sea yesterday. Shortly after 2am on Tuesday, 1 November, officers aboard Marine Vessels Niven D and Tornado were conducting maritime border patrols along the south coast of the island. As they were checking the coastlines near the Pedro bluff area, officers observed suspicious activities at sea.   When they investigated what they initially thought might have been a transfer of contraband at sea, they saw a vessel speeding away.

The marine vessels contacted the helicopter for support and all three assets pursued the vessel as it headed out tosea. Parcels could be seen being thrown from the speeding vessel, which was subsequently interdicted after a short pursuit. This suspect vessel was then confirmed to be a Jamaican canoe. The five packages thrown overboard were all recovered from the water as well as some 45 that were still on board the vessel, police said.

Five males (all Jamaican nationals) are currently in custody along with the seizure of 785 pounds of ganja.

Officers from the Drugs & Serious Crimes Task Force are now actively conducting post investigations into the recovery and arrest of the five men as well as the involvement of other people.

The RCIPS is appealing to any persons who might have been fishing on land or out to sea near the area of this interdiction who may have seen other suspicious vessels or people leaving the area.     

Anyone with information should call 949-7710, the RCIPS confidential hotline 949-7777 or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS).

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I dont know anything about Jamaica being rated so high in Tourism as was recently posted, but they are certainly NUMBER 1 in drug trafficing.

  2. Anonymous says:

    I have to say the title does not do the article justice. How about "Major Drug Smuggling Bust!".  They didn't just find ganga floating at sea, they found it on a canoe with 5 men on board trying to escape! 785 lbs is a lot of weed.

    • Anonymous says:

      If the Demand doesn't decrease, it doesn't mean squat. 

    • Anonymous says:

      Anyone noticed it was marked?  They have customers.   They are all sad the stuff ended up in the wrong hands.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I guess they didnt see when the guns were thrown over? …and the street value on that weed was probably no more than USD$7K at CI$ 6-700 a pound.

    • Anonymous says:

      You appear to be mathematically challenged. 785lbs @ $600 per lb = $471,000.  

  4. Anonymous says:

    Ok so this batch was 785 – let's see what the next batches amount to and then let's add 'em all up and see how many pounds at the end of the year are burnt? Simple. But I will tell you this, we really need to dicriminalize weed and Gov't should set up their own shop for purchasing. They can make money and freeze out sellers, simple! Colombia, Chicago and other major juristications around the world are pushing for it to happen beacause right now it's a waste of time and resources XXXX! And if yah think about it, 12 beers in your system last 24 hours. A joint? 10 mins. Again, simple. OH AND DON'T FORGET THIS – OLDTIMERS USED TO FARM THIS CROP RIGHT IN THE HEART OF SMB! GO FIGURE? hehehhee Go deh gramps!

    • Anonymous says:

      This explains a lot then in Cayman with what you are saying.  Should improve in the next couple of weeks with the shortage!

      Quote "With regular, heavy use, some pot smokers may experience an impairment in their cognitive abilities. The ability to understand what they have read is affected, along with the marijuana user's verbal and mathematical skills. Students who get high before going to class are not going to be able to retain the lessons they are being taught.

      Tasks that require a high degree of concentration are challenging for someone who has been using Mary Jane. Coordination is affected, and driving or operating machinery becomes more difficult.

      With regular use, the person becomes unmotivated. They may also be more likely to be late for or absent from school or work. Consequences of being absent on the job may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

      A higher than usual turnover rate for employment is not the only consequence of using weed that individuals need be concerned about; marijuana users are more likely be involved in accidents and to make aclaim for Workers' Compensation benefits."

      Anyone know any one around here that fits the bill?

      And it is also the pre-cursor to other drugs, proven fact. 

      "

      • Anonymous says:

        Marijuana or ganga as it is locally known is smoked by many on the island. If you read the thread you can get an idea of the opinion held by many here that pot is not a dangerous drug.

        So don't be surprised by a cool response to your facts.

        There was an ad campaign in the States with a couple of young men smoking marijuana saying the they hadn't suffered any negative results to smoking. Then the conversation is cut short when the mother of one of the men calls up to her son asking him if he went out and looked for work that day.

        The message was clear and not impressive with regards to the young man in question.

      • so Anonymous says:

        You forgot to mention that for the other 95% of ganga smokers there is no discernable after effects.  Explains why you can't tell if a person is a regular smoker or not unless you catch them smoking.  You also forgot to mention that a good portion of alcohol users will end up suffering ill health in the long run even though they have done nothing illegale.  Most drug users that get into trouble for it are users of other drugs besides pot.  But to see this you must have an open mind so most of you won't.

        • Anonymous says:

          Can you please supply a source for your statistic. It seems highly unlikely.  

  5. Anonymous says:

    If we see these people coming on the boat, are we allowed to give them food and water or do we call immigration too?

  6. Knot S Smart says:

    So will this be burned by the Police?

     

  7. Anonymous says:

    Please tell me the RCIP had land based officers deployed to the area in question??? Somebody was waiting for all that wacky backy.

    • Anonymous says:

      Always to anxious to catch the delivery but not the receiver or both.  Small minds, big brains.  When are we ever going to get to the top of the ladder.   It is almost Pirates Week,  that really made a dent in someone's revelling in bling and mulla.

  8. anonymous says:

    go marine with your new boats. keep hitting dem shots.. another shot ah hit soon i bet. 

  9. Anonymous says:

    it would have been a wonderful gesture to the Cayman Islands if they had brought some of the "Blue Mountain Coffee Beans" .  This would make more sense!!!! and stop sending our young people Mad.  Did they have  "Travel Documents and Money"?  These five men should be forced to talk  and disclose who are their Cayman links.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Ahh damn, now my weed is gonna be more expensive here in florida….wahhhhhh 

  11. Anonymous says:

    Great job! Ganja fries brains!

    …I just wonder how else these bad boys are gonna 'stack their paper' before Christmas.

    Not more robberies I hope!

  12. Anonymous says:

    Some 'big man' stash get lick !  You talking $ 5 million street value worth of weed here…no minor player can purchase and import almost 1000 pounds of weed into Cayman.

    Can the RCIPS follow the 'weed' trail up the food chain to its rightful owner ?

    Now that would be policing !

     

  13. Anonymous says:

    Well done RCIP…now let's be sure to give them harsh sentences to send a message to their scum friends.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Ganja should be legalised .. not much difference between ganja and alcohol..

    • Anonymous says:

      Actually I would prefer the company of ganja smokers over alcoholics any day.  Of the two, I'd say alcohol is much worse in terms of effect on the persons actions, and health consequences too.

    • Not PPM or Big Mac says:

      Agree for many reasons, but for as long as it is considered an illegal drug it will bring other unwanted elements such as guns, so therefore credit to the cops for intercepting this shipment.

      • Anonymous says:

        Hemp, the plant from which the budding flowers and the resin in them comes, was never an illegal substance until sometime in the 1920s when the US Federal Govt. made the cultivation and use of hemp illegal….thus cannabis, marijuana, or ganja, the flowery part of the plant, became an illegal drug…just like alcohol was made illegal during the years of Prohibition.

        Unless the US Govt can control and tax a substance, it will remain illegal and thus create an industry for all involved in its creation, use, trafficking and probihitive enforcement.

        Unfortunately, the weed is now that market industry but even the US Govt is wisening up and changing their use and possession laws so that personal use, especially for confirmed medical purposes, is allowed on a limited and controlled scale.

        If Caribbean governments were to consider following suite, they might eliminate some of the gang involvement and firearms trafficking that is associated with marijuana trafficking…as long as the substance itself remains, illegal, it is the criminal element that will be involved in its supply….that is the basic facts of the matter.

    • The Prophet says:

      The prophet says ganja smokers are better behaved than beer drinkers.   However  Good catch RCIP.

  15. Anonymous says:

    This is only the tip of the iceberg. Also watch out for the guns being smuggled in in the same way.   

    • Anonymous says:

      Anyone think that if ganja was decriminalized the gun smuggling would stop?

      Let me burn one and think more about this….

  16. Anonymous says:

    Great job marine patrol – thank you.

  17. Anonymous says:

    RCIP  GOOD JOB

  18. Anonymous says:

    Way to go RCIP Marine and Helicopter!!  Is the jail full at Georgetown, the arrests are flowing this week with some serious bad boys.  Well done!!

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes , and don't forget the human rights activist are ready to set them same criminals free. The world is totally f@@@# by these acts,and conventions. 

      • Anonymous says:

        Let's stick to the old methods, turn a blind eye and have nobody arrested or in jail. Then you wouldn't have to worry about the human rights activists setting them free!