MoBay cocaine trio gets new court date
Published:Wednesday | July 6, 2016 | 12:00 AMChristopher Thomas
WESTERN BUREAU:
Three employees of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James, who were arrested and charged in a recent cocaine bust, had the case against them put off until next month when they appeared in court in the western city yesterday.
The accused men, 45-year-old John Morris; 25-year-old Jovan Palmer of Dunbar Boulevard; and 22-year-old Troy Lawrence of Tucker, all in St James, are charged with possession of, dealing in, and attempting to export seven and one-quarter pounds of cocaine.
In court yesterday, it was revealed that two documents are outstanding from the prosecution's file.
Presiding magistrate Sandria Wong-Small was told that the prosecution was awaiting the forensic report and the chain-of-custody report to complete its case file.
Consequently, Wong-Small set the matter for mention on August 4.
The men's bail was extended until the scheduled court appearance.
"Mr Lawrence, Mr Morris, and Mr Palmer, these matters will be mentioned again on August 4 ... and full disclosure is to be made to counsel (defence attorneys) on or before July 29, 2016," said Wong-Small in explaining the situation to the accused men.
The allegations are that on March 30, the police, acting on information, went to a section of the Sangster International Airport, where investigations led to the discovery of cocaine hidden inside nine meal packages aboard a flight destined for Birmingham, England.
Morris and Lawrence, who were employed to a catering company at the airport, and Palmer, who was employed as a security officer, were subsequently taken into custody and were later charged.