Glenroy Sinclair, Senior Crime Reporter

Dietrich

The Marine Division's capacity to patrol the island's coastline and waterways has been given a major boost with the addition of 13 high-tech boats to the existing fleet.

"These are boats that are each equipped with two six-cylinder, 24-valve supercharged engines. The vessels will also have the capacity of going farther than 80 miles offshore," said Superintendent Marlon Dietrich, who confirmed that the boats had arrived but are yet to be cleared off the wharf.

He said the 27-foot boats are built with cabins to protect the crew from the elements, and to allow them to stay on the high seas for much longer periods.

Six months ago, the Government signed off on a $325-million deal with Jamaica Marine World, and an American company to construct and deliver 40 boats to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas has since received 10 of the boats, which arrived in the first batch in September.

Already distributed

"Those are some of the boats that we are using in the harbour. They have already been distributed to Portland, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland and St. Thomas," said Supt. Dietrich, head of the Marine Division.

Reports are that the next batch, which will be much bigger, is scheduled to arrive by the end of the month, with the final batch due in the island by early January.

With the increase in mobility, the Marine Police are now training over 22 new personnel, in both practical and theory. The commanding officer said that since the arrival of the vessels, his team has had numerous successes.

Recently, they intercepted a small boat with a group of men smuggling ganja from Jamaica to Haiti in the guns-for-ganja trade. Those men were also implicated in the stealing of some boat engines in St. Thomas.