BARBADOS

BRIDGETOWN, CMC :

Barbados police have discovered marijuana hidden in oranges imported from Jamaica at four supermarkets, the Sunday Sun newspaper reported, quoting a senior police official.

It said the drugs were worth 800,000 Barbados dollars (400,000 US dollars) on the street. So far, no arrests have been reported in connection with the find and the paper said Barbados police were working with Jamaican authorities to probe the drug shipment.

The paper said the head of the Royal Barbados Police Force Drug Squad, Superintendent Grafton Phillips, confirmed that 41 taped packages of marijuana were discovered Saturday at four stores in shipments of Jamaican oranges.

The initial discovery of 17 packages of what appeared to be compressed marijuana in 17 cases of oranges at one rural supermarket prompted a search of a chain of stores that netted the drugs.

“We discovered that some of the shipments had already gone out to other establishments and we carried out searches at all of them. As a result we found packages at three other establishments,” Phillips told the Sun.

“We are conducting further investigations on the matter and we would be working with our counterparts in Jamaica. “ The Sun said it was told by a source that the shipments were made from a Bridgetown area distribution company. The drugs are believed to have been delivered to the supermarkets late Friday, it added.