HER MAJESTY'S Customs and Excise Department in the United Kingdom has disclosed that only seven per cent of cocaine confiscated in that country last year came from Jamaica, the London office of the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) reports.
The Jamaican Government's news agency said information supplied by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise Department shows that the bulk of the drug entered the UK through sea freight from South America.
Over the period October 2000 to September 2001, Jamaica accounted for 742 kilograms of the 11 tonnes of cocaine seized in the UK, the JIS said in a news release last week. Of that amount, 309 kilograms were recovered from 560 people who swallowed the drug or hid it in body cavities, the JIS quoted HMCE Department as saying.
The figures countered recent media reports that as much as 50 per cent of the cocaine entering the UK come from Jamaica, said the news release from the Jamaican High Commission in London.
The JIS quoted David Muirhead, Jamaica's High Commissioner to London, as saying that the statistics did not support claims made by Phil Sinkinson, Deputy British High Commissioner in Kingston, that one in every 10 Jamaicans travelling to England smuggled drugs.
"The Customs Department said that in any one year, there are approximately 468 flights from Jamaica carrying in excess of 120,000 passengers," the news release stated.
Also, it pointed to media reports about the number of Jamaicans smuggling drugs into the United Kingdom, which reports, it said, sparked some controversy and much concern among the Jamaican community in England. According to the news release, in a recent interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Keith Kerr, a UK government race relation's adviser, warned against picking on any particular group to blame for the UK's drug problem.
It said that David Barber, the Jamaica Tourist Board's (JTB) deputy director for the UK and Europe, said the media reports could have a negative impact on the JTB's marketing and promotional efforts. "With people already preoccupied about their safety, this could set us back significantly," Barber said.
The JIS said that Mr. Muirhead had already called for a sustained international campaign to fight drug trafficking, arguing that "Jamaica does not produce cocaine. The transhipment of the drug through the island is a major concern and increased international co-operation and support will be needed to stem the flow."
