Sergeant Norman McGibbon from the Mounted Troop Division of the Jamaica Constabulary shows a group of youngsters from the Jamaica Christian Boys' Home how to wear a gas mask. The boys were at the Caribbean District of Optimist International Youth Career Expo at Immaculate Conception High School yesterday. DESPITE the presence of sniffer dogs, X-ray machines and an increase in call-in tips and body searches at the island's two major airports, an estimated 70 per cent of illegal drug shipments are still able to get through successfully.
George Green of the Police Narcotics Division said his department was able to apprehend only a scant 30 per cent of those trying to take drugs overseas.
"Every other day we find drugs at the two airports, ready to be exported or on people," he said. "Some are found in suitcases, some in shoes, some we receive as tips, others are in goods set for shipping, there are also many that get away with it."
Mr. Green, who was one of the policemen manning the Jamaica Constabulary Force booth at the Caribbean District of Optimist International's 20th anniversary Career Expo at Immaculate Conception High School yesterday, said the Canine Division was the most effective in detecting drugs.
Statistics from the Canine Division showed that from April 1999 to March 2000, drug finds totalled $13,282,700, with 112 arrests, 163 drug detections which included 8,385 pounds of ganja, 284 pounds of cocaine, 185 pounds of hash oil and three pounds of hashish. This is in comparison to 84 detections in 1997 and 106 in 1998.
Ganja continued to account for the highest findings. Forty dogs imported from England are working with the division.
Among the items on display at the police's booth were Bibles, Bob Marley portraits, slippers, juice cans, book covers and paintings which drug traffickers had tried to use as a vehicle to hide the narcotics.
"Many of them who we don't catch are apprehended when they arrive at other airports, especially the United States, where there is more modern X-ray equipment. Because the system is better, about 50 per cent of those who get through Jamaica's Customs go there and get caught," Mr. Green said.
The most recent ganja finds in Jamaica were in pumpkin and nutmeg shipments, pointing to a pumpkin made of fibreglass that was stuffed with the weed and real nutmegs that were cut and the drug stuffed in.
The students attending the Expo were also given tips on resume writing, career options and marketability by representatives from various private and public sector organisations.
