Suspect drug traffickers charged over 785lb ganja

| 07/11/2011

packages.JPG(CNS): Five Jamaican nationals appeared in court on Monday, charged with drug offenses relating to 785 pounds of ganja recovered in a police operation last week. The ganja is estimated to have street value of $1.25 million and the largest canoe seizure for almost four years. The five suspects have been charged with possession of drugs, importation of drugs, possession with intention to supply and being concerned in the importation of drugs. On Tuesday 1 November marine officers on patrol in the Pedro area stumbled across the canoe which was later discovered to the carrying of the illicit cargo. Police said that at around 2am the Marine Vessels Niven D and Tornado were conducting maritime border patrols along the south coast of the island when they observed suspicious activity.

“Officers investigated what they initially thought might have been a transfer of contraband at sea. Upon investigating further the marine vessels observed a vessel speeding away,” said a police spokesperson.

“The marine vessels contacted the helicopter for support and all three assets pursued the vessel as it headed out to sea. 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.”

All five Jamaican suspects aboard the drug canoe were arrested and the ganja and the boat were seized by the police.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Category: Crime

About the Author ()

Comments (30)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Anonymous says:

    I may be wrong but it seems to me that whenever we get guys in from the UK things start to happen. There seems to have been more action and results over the past few weeks than for months.  Makes you wonder why!

  2. Anonymous says:

    No work going on so people gotta get by some how…

    • Nonnie Mouse says:

      Not the correlation between the concepts as one might imagine.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Somone is paying these guys, let catch that person, I dnt  willing to bet that person is from here. he might lead us to the ones bringing in the Guns too…

  4. ThE_rEaL_bObO says:

    785 POUNDS OF GANJA, IN CAYMAN A POUND OF GANJA RUN COST MORE OR LESS $500 || 785*500=  ||$392,500||

    NOT 1.25 MILLION THATS RIDICULOUS

    THAT WOULD BE 100 DOLLARS FOR EVERY OUNCE LOL MUST HAVE BEEN GOOD STUFF

  5. Anonymous says:

    What?! No Caymanians were arrested? I thought we only had Caymanian criminals here in Cayman/Northward?

    • Anonymous says:

      No, 9:55, only 90% of the criminals are Caymanian.

      • Anonymous says:

        How would you know that since most of the crime is unsolved?

        • Anonymous says:

          OK 15:18, so it is maybe higher than 90% because that figure relates to the solved crimes. Just read your Compass and CNS to see who the criminals are.

          • Anonymous says:

            You are not too bright. The Compass and CNS report only those who are caught. Most of them (probably those who are more professional) are not.

          • Anonymous says:

            The only thing you posts reveals is your ignorance, malice and hatred of Caymanians. Had a Caymanian made a similar statement about another nationality without any factual basis whatsoever you would have been on the bandwagon denouncing their xenophobia, but apparently Caymanians are fair game for any hateful opinion.

             And you wonder why Caymanians are wary of granting expats permanent rights?

    • Anonymous says:

      I think that ganga was grown here, and was being shipped overseas.  Those poor people wouldn't bring it to the Cayman Islands.  Would they?  Laugh a day.

  6. anonymous says:

    CNS, can you ask the police if any firearms might have been on the boat which were dumped and sunked to the bottom of the ocean floor?

  7. Anonymous says:

    More marine patrols needed! That was just a small fraction of how much was actully imported this year.  They know that Cayman does not have proper security /patrol of the sea.  Also, these criminals are entering our country and we don't even know they are here!  NO wonder we can solve most of these crimes and also the nature of the crime in recent times.

  8. Whodatis says:

    Re: "The ganja is estimated to have street value of $12.5 million …"

    Talk about an artificial increase in the value of a commodity!

    This is a clear example of how a$$-backwards our society is today.

    We have policies and laws in place that skyrockets the economic value of mere PLANTS (for goodness sake, my mother goes plant shopping every other weekend!) to such a level.

    Seeds, soil, water, sunshine.

    Combine a lot of those elements and you can become a multimillionaire overnight. Ridiculous.

    Nevertheless, it is clear that SOMEBODY is VERY WELL CONNECTED to be bringing in such quantities of the stuff. Even more so if they got in on consignment.

    No wonder this place is awash with illegal firearms … those are some high stakes out there!

    * Why did I go to school and now work hard daily for again??

    It is not difficult to see why some young people are attracted to certain lifestyles – especially in these economic times.

    • Datisme says:

      "artificial increase"? it's called demand and supply, if there is risk in growing, harvesting, transport and sale of a product it will limit the supply and thus increase the selling price. Any commodity that has a high demand and limited supply will be increased like this.

      Just look at White Alba truffle for a great example, $160,000 paid for a truffle weighing 3.3lbs or even diamonds

      And sorry to burst your bubble, put this has been the way of things through the ages of civilisation not just today and always will be. It's called economics

      At least ganga has purpose, what do diamonds do?

       

       

      • Whodatis says:

        Okay … we are basically saying the same thing though buddy.

        The "risks" associated with marijuana cultivation are directly linked to its prohibition. Hence the increase in the "value" of the product.

        My comment was an indirect swipe at the illegality of marijuana altogether.

  9. Anonymous says:

    "785 pounds of ganja recovered in a police operation last week. The ganja is estimated to have street value of $12.5 million".

    So ganja costs $15,923.57 per lb?! Really? The following article suggests that it is more like $1,000-$1,500 per lb. CNS, I suspect you put the decimal point in the wrong place. Probably more like $1.25m.  

    http://www.michigandaily.com/content/how-street-value-marijuana-determined

    CNS: You're right. We got our decimal in the wrong place.

    • Anonymous says:

      That's in the U.S as with any consumer good, prices differ between countries. Take into consideration that supply in the U.S is probably a lot larger. Not to mention that here in Cayman, the quality is probably better than in the U.S. It may not be as much as 12.5 million but you can't price it by U.S standards, just saying…

      • Anonymous says:

        Actually, I didn't. $1.25 million would work out to $1,592 per lb. (as opposed to $1,000-$1,500).

        Obviously 785 lbs in one shipment is a very large supply for Cayman. the U.S. could very well be the ultimate destination of much of it. It really would not make much sense to buy ganja at $16,000 per lb and sell it at $1,500 per lb. 

        Cayman is clearly more expensive than the U.S. but there is no commodity which is priced here at 10 times the cost in the U.S.   

  10. Anonymous says:

    They were charged. Names please.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yeah, and while you're at it, name the cop that was charged two weeks ago under anti-corruption law and put on required leave for releasing confidential data.

       

      Hey, what's good for the goose…..! I need to know who this person is so I don't tell her any secrets.

  11. Knot S Smart says:

    A-ha!

    So its the Jamaicans bringing in the drugs.

    Surprise… Surprise..

    Now if we could only find out who is bringing in the guns…

  12. Anonymous says:

    LEGALIZE IT (in my Sean Paul voice)

  13. Da Commodore says:

    When last have you seen the marine unit on patrol yeah right, two vessels now that is a kodiak moment if you can't tell the truth about the small things oh well, any way congrats boys , you finally got one it has been almost a year. How about you now catch the principals here who financed this little trip or shall we be left to guess or speculate who they are or shall we settle with the old fisherman's tale of the "Big Ones that got away".

    • Anonymous says:

      Well said. Catch the movers and shakers right here on our Island. Give the Jamaican guys some immunity for convicting the people who finance and ship the Ganga to Cayman. Have we ever caught and convicted one of the Big Guys? I’ve only seen the “Indians” being convicted – never the “chiefs”

      • Anonymous says:

        Try and flip the Jamaicans? Seriously? People who have probably been borught up in a culture of "informa fi dead". They'll never give anyone up, keep dreaming.