Jamaican fugitive rounded up in joint operation

(CNS): Immigration, customs and police were all involved in a George Town drug bust, Friday, in which a Jamaican man, in Cayman illegally, was rounded up and arrested for possession of ganja. Officials said the arrest was a “successful joint tactical operation” after immigration officers learned that illegal people were residing and concealing drugs in the Windsor Park area. What local officials did not say however, but CNS has confirmed, is the man was wanted in Jamaica for murder and arson. Obrian Ellis, from Westmoreland is accused of shooting and killing 44-year-old Steadman Sterling, last December. He has since been charged with illegal landing.

The Jamaican authorities are understood to have begun an extradition process to return Ellis to that country.

Officials here gave no indication that the man they arrested for possession of drugs was a fugitive in the release about the operation. But they said that after learning that he was in Cayman immigration contacted customs and the police, including the firearms unit, to assist in the bust. Within two hours, the joint operation was developed and conducted by all three agencies.

Search warrants were executed during the joint operation, which led to the recovery of several packages of marijuana concealed in various locations and the arrest of Ellis on suspicion of illegal landing and possession of marijuana.

“I would like to thank the HM Customs and RCIPS officers for their commitment to this operation, which ultimately has made the community safer both through the removal of these drugs and the arrest of the individual,” said Garfield Wong, the deputy chief immigration officer for enforcement. “It is important that Cayman Islands law enforcement agencies continue to work together and share intelligence to disrupt and dismantle crime.”

Anyone with information about immigration-related offences are urged to contact the confidential information hotline at 1-800-LegalIm (1-800-534-2546) or email legalim@gov.ky.