By Garwin Davis,
Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU: COCAINE TRAFFICKING has become prevalent in the island's coastal towns and has been contributing to the country's escalating crime problem, said the police.
"Yes, we are aware that there is a problem and steps are being taken to address the situation," said Commissioner of Police, Francis Forbes, responding to a question in Montego Bay on Thursday night.
"Very soon we will be seeing more police on the streets and in sensitive areas where they will be tackling the problem head on."
However, others are not so sure if the cocaine trade, based on its lucrative nature and alleged police involvement, can be so easily solved. There are also talks of a major drug ring involving Colombians, Bahamians and Jamaicans, with local towns in Portland, St. Mary and Montego Bay being used as strategic transshipment points.
"We are aware that people are using cigarette boats to bring in stuff," said Deputy Superintendent Anthony Powell who is in charge of the narcotics division in an earlier interview with The Sunday Gleaner.
"These boats with their 250 horsepower engine have the capabilities to go to Colombia in a short space of time. The marine police do not have the capabilities to keep up with them."
These boats can be seen out at sea with nothing to suggest that the owners are fishing or sailing for pleasure, he said and that his agency was continuing to monitor activities on the water.
In Portland, towns like Boston, St. Margaret's Bay and Manchioneal are said to be favourite drop off points for the traffickers and have become violence prone in recent times.
Following last year's torching of houses and kidnapping of residents in St. Margaret's Bay after news broke of a major cocaine find circulating in the area, there were similar reported incidents several weeks ago when another cocaine haul was said to have been discovered.
The Port Antonio police have been hard pressed to make any sort of difference in curtailing the problem and, in some cases, have been accused by the public of corruption.
"It would be a foolish thing to trust some of the police officers here in this town," one resident explains.
"When you see the police in the company of known drug dons what sort of confidence would you have in giving them confidential information."
Another resident agreed. "My son, two years ago gave the police some information regarding activities at the Ken Jones aerodrome and within three days he was shot and killed. This I don't believe was just a coincidence."
The Commissioner, who a few years ago, transferred nearly 80 police officers from Portland in a major shake-up of the police force in that parish, has recently ordered top level investigations into intelligence reports linking members of the constabulary force to drugs.
Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Deputy Leader and spokesperson on National Security and Justice, Derrick Smith, in a tour of Montego Bay last week noted that the cocaine trade was huge in the resort city and other coastal towns. He said that the Government would have to put a special task force in place to deal with the problem.
"In discussions with the police high command in this city, it is obvious that the cocaine trade is a major problem in this town," Mr. Smith said. "There is also a direct link with gun crimes which has nearly doubled when compared to last year."
Mr. Smith said that with all that has been happening in many rural towns, there was a direct relation between the drug trade and crime and that there were, in some cases, evidences of police involvement.
"A task force cannot be put in place without also taking this side of the island into consideration," he said. "An independent body dealing with corruption and unscrupulous police officers will also have to be implemented." He added that a tour of the Montego Bay Freeport revealed what he called some serious loopholes and said that the situation had to be addressed.
