Cops recover 350lb of ganja in latest haul

(CNS): Five men from Grand Cayman were arrested shortly after midnight on Monday after another major drug interdiction by the RCIPS. Officers on patrol in the Red Bay area at around 12:30am on 26 August came across a group of men trying to place a boat on a trailer at the dock. When they approached to investigate what was happening, the boat was reversed off the trailer and made off, with those on board discarding packages along the way.

Police officers located and arrested three men who were left at the dock on suspicion of being concerned with the importation of ganja. Two of the men, aged 23 and 30, are from West Bay, and the third man, aged 31, is from George Town.

Meanwhile, the Air Operations Unit and the Joint Marine Unit intercepted the fleeing boat in the South Sound area.

Two men on board, aged 41 and 45 and both from West Bay, were arrested and have since been charged with importing ganja after officers recovered around 350lbs of the drug from the water. Those two men were due to appear in court today while the other three were bailed as the investigation continues.

Over the last six months police have intercepted well over 3,000lbs of ganja in four major ganja hauls, including what may be the biggest ever bust earlier this month, when a boat carrying over 1,200lbs was intercepted off the coast of East End. A man from Cayman Brac has been charged in that case.

In July a boat that was some 50 miles east of Grand Cayman was intercepted and found to be carrying over 100lbs of ganja, and two Jamaicans have since been charged. In March another 900lbs was recovered after police chased a vessel despite being fired on by the smugglers. Three Jamaicans have also been charged in relation to that case with two already jailed and a third awaiting trial.

Despite the recovery of drugs that would have been worth many millions of dollars on the street, there is no sign that the flow of ganja, largely from Jamaica, is drying up as a result.