Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

Some of the more than 900 pounds of compressed ganja that was seized during a police operation at Seven Miles, Bull Bay, St Andrew, Monday night, is displayed at the Police Narcotics Division on Spanish Town Road in the Corporate Area. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Over the past four months, narcotics detectives have intercepted and safely removed more than $100 million worth of compressed ganja from the hands of drug dealers who were in the process of exporting the drug overseas.

Reports are that a quantity of the drugs seized was supposed to have been traded for illegal guns and ammunition.

"Since the start of the year, we have arrested about 1,700 persons, seized at least 15 motor vehicles that were suspected to be involved drug operations," head of the Narcotics Division, Senior Superintendent Carlton Wilson, said yesterday.

Gunmen open fire

The senior officer was speaking against the background of Monday night's massive operation, conducted in collaboration with Operation Kingfish, the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) and members of his division.

SSP Wilson said that as soon as the police party swooped down on the Lollipop Bay Beach in Bull Bay, St Andrew, they came under fire from gunmen. The shooting lasted for only a few seconds.

"On our arrival, we saw a number of men running away from an International truck, which was parked along the beachfront. They were eventually chased and held," said SSP Wilson.

The truck was searched and more than 900 pounds of compressed ganja was found, packed in 19 knit bags, along with four 5-gallon buckets with a quantity of ganja that was not compressed.

"We took five men into custody and seized a grey Toyota Corolla that was on the beach. We also suspect that the men who were firing at us threw their weapons into the sea," the narcotics chief said.

Preliminary investigations suggest the ganja bust is part of the guns-for-drugs trade between Jamaica and Haiti. SSP Wilson told The Gleaner yesterday that since the start of the year, the narcotics team has increased its ganja-eradication effort in terms of ganja eradication in the traditional areas.

"We have also stepped up our approach in terms of demand reduction by sensitising Jamaicans from all sections of the society about the consequences of drug involvement and how it affects their health," Wilson said.

glenroy.sinclair@gleanerjm.com