KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Three Colombians fishermen are due to appear before the Kingston & St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday next week, on multi-drug-related charges after cocaine with a street value of J$1.65 billion (One Jamaican dollar = 0.08 cents) was seized on March 21.
The police said they seized more than 6000 pounds of cocaine, the largest single seizure in Jamaica’s recorded history, and arrested 39-year-old Lucio Henry, a fisherman of San Andres, Colombia; 34-year-old Arith Lopez, a fisherman of Barranquilla, Colombia; and 22-year-old Klein Sinclair, a fisherman of Providence, Colombia.
They were all charged on Tuesday with possession of cocaine, dealing in cocaine, importing cocaine, trafficking cocaine, conspiracy to traffic cocaine, and illegal entry.
Director of the Firearms and Narcotics Investigations Division (FNID) and Superintendent of Police, Patrae Rowe, said this large seizure is a show of the consistent collaborative approach to dismantling the illegal drug trade.
“Our efforts are paying off, our strategies are working, our targeted approach in terms of our operational output and our stakeholder engagement has improved sufficiently that we are seeing the kind of results that we are seeing,” he added.
Police said that during the early hours of March 21, members of the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) intercepted an unnamed fishing vessel off the coast of Alligator Pond, St Elizabeth, southwest of here. The three men were reportedly found aboard with 99 knitted bags of cocaine.
The police said the vessel and its cargo were escorted to the JDF Coast Guard base at Port Royal, Kingston, and subsequently handed over to FNID investigators, and that the knitted bags revealed more than 2,400 parcels of cocaine weighing over 6000 pounds.
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