Local men jailed over ganja smuggling
(CNS): Three Caymanian men who were caught in a drug interception in June 2018 were all jailed on Thursday for between three and four years for their part in the smuggling operation. Barton Elsworth Rivers, Deno Kalifa McInnis and Jonathan Ashley Moore were charged and convicted late last year with one count of conspiracy to import over 200lbs of ganja after they were caught in East End.
The men, who had opted for a Grand Court trial, denied the allegations. They were spotted off the coast of the Queen’s Highway unloading the contraband from a Jamaican canoe before bringing it ashore not far from the Morritts resort.
Two of the men were arrested at the scene, while a third was linked through cellphone messages to the smuggling operation and the Jamaicans who brought the drugs.
The men were all handed four-year jail terms by Justice Marlene Carter when they appeared for sentencing on Thursday, which were reduced by varying degrees based on mitigation and time served on tags on remand.
Category: Local News
The same can be said for alcohol, so your point is moot.
10 years minimum. A registry of ganja smokers needs to be kept and the people on it dealt with.
Meanwhile my coworker gets paid breaks to smoke nicotine laced tobacco cigs on government time and property. Only in Cayman, where the largest hardware store owner is the planning chairman, can such double-standards be accepted as normal.
You are an idiot.
You can even get arrested for skunk weed?
How terrible that looks they deserve life
If they were convicted last year, why have they been wandering around loose for the past 10 months? I don’t care whether weed is legalised or not, but the courts need to get serious about moving their cases.
Legalize the herb to take advantage of the opportunities to follow.
How is this still illegal here? Why would you send someone to prison for selling plants that come from the ground?
Don’t cocoa leaves that make cocaine come from plants that grow on the ground?
Don’t poppy plants that make heroin come from the ground?
What’s your point?
The two examples provided are chemically processed with dangerous substances such as gasoline and cut with unknown additives.
Cannabis harvesting only includes soil, seed, sun and water. No one in the history of man has ever overdosed on the Cannabis plant, but they have from the cocoa and poppy. Further, cocaine and heroin come with physical addiction, whereas quitting Cannabis is a mental addiction similar to quitting junk food.
The point is that yes, these are all plants, but Cannabis cannot be considered as dangerous as the other two simply because they are all plants. This is proven.
Fantastic response. And btw no one gets violent, fights and beats their spouse after smoking a spliff. But yeah alcohol is okay!
Before anyone refutes with the stupid “they lace it / put glass shards / pesticides” argument, please read before:
1) lacing reduces margin. Even a fool knows how to make money
2) nobody ga time to put glass in herb their own family smoke
3) arguing with improper growing points like pesticide use is ironic. If I could grow my own I’d ensure organically grown methods are used, leaving me with a safe medically prescribed plant. I love to make the tea 🍵. Just add a little butter and sugar.
Much safer alternative to alcohol or nicotine. Why do we allow the two worse and not the medically better?
You’ve heard of THC right?
You bozos need to get a chemists degree then come back with real knowledge, not an ignorant rant about ‘plants’.
Duh, that’s the feel good part.
THC is one of the many cannabinoids found in the plant. It’s the one that gives the hallucinogenic effect. Reading your post you’ve obviously had some and now fancy yourself a chemist?
Have you spent time with the half wits that use cannabis on a regular basis?
You’re clearly one of them.
Plants are the original sources of many poisons.
The potato plant is a case in point, what about deadly nightshade? How do you think they make ricin?
Don’t be a complete idiot, stop consuming your plant based stupid and get educated.
And you’re clearly a Karen speaking from zero personal experience. Ironic. You turn a blind eye to the violent alcoholics yet demonize me because I prefer Cannabis as a natural anti-depressant and sleep aid, rather than synthetic pills. It is not a poison lol!
I speak from experience – you don’t know what you’re talking about when you try to make out weed to be like crack cocaine. You said the word “deadly” – please show me one single proven poisoning/fatality from medically prescribed cannabis and/or its extracts.
I don’t turn a blind eye to any drink or drug induced violence. But I have considerable experience dealing with the violence and mental health issues that follow cannabis use and won’t be silenced by dimwits who can’t see the obvious.
Plenty of people have been killed by those who have developed psychological issues due to early and over use. Many notorious killers have been cannabis abusers and plenty of violent street crimes are committed by those whose judgement has been impaired by psychosis and paranoia.
If cannabis is the solution, why is it that Jamaica is riven with violence or why gang bangers exist in the first place? If your argument stands scrutiny, why aren’t they all laying around laughing instead of killing each other?
What you’re describing are case of pre-existing mental conditions that are brought out, or worsened through use. Anyone with such underlying issues shouldn’t be taking any drugs, be it weed or alcohol.
I don’t even have to debate your second paragraph – even IF it were true that cannabis makes people violent, alcohol is proven locally to be the major cause of late-night stabbings, fights and DUI’d. Why fight to keep one banned but keep the flood gates open on the worse one?
Cannabis is not a fix-all magical herb though it can improve one’s mood a lot. I myself am prescribed it for depression and anxiety. While it works great for me, it may not for 100% of other people. The fact that 2% don’t benefit from it isn’t reason to ban it. I love coffee but it gives my husband the jitters, yet we haven’t banned coffee.
By keeping it illegal here, we give them a cash cow to smuggle. Poverty causes violence and gang-banging, not weed. It only so happens that weed is a very lucrative plant to smuggle, so the criminals are associated with it. Cayman’s demand allows them to sell it at $1000+/lb here, rather than for 50 USD/lb back in Jamaica.
The war on drugs is a massive waste of money. Legalize personal growing and I would never pay a drug dealer to smuggle it in for me, reducing the cash incentive to bring guns. Unfortunately holier-than-thou dimwits like yourself wish to control others just because you think you know it all despite admittedly speaking from zero personal experience with the plant. I bet the only evidence you have is a sensationalist blog-post or one single anecdotal story of your lazy nephew who didn’t graduate school but smokes weed. Whereas I received a government scholarship and have an MBA. Smoked weed all throughout uni to cope with the stress.
Don’t knock it til you try it, then get back to me, “dimwit”.
But you’re still referring to authorised prescription Mexican marijuana, not shit weed without regulation. Most sensible people have an issue with that, they just object to casual use.
Err, no I’m not. Early use is known to lead to under developed brains and all the mental health issues associated with cannabis use. As most users start early in life, (under 21) it is obvious that your pre-existing issues are wide spread. So drop the BS and get a grip on reality.
The same can be said for alcohol and tobacco cigs, so your point is moot.
This isn’t medical or legalised recreational marijuana. It’s shit weed with absolutely no controls, grown and distributed by homicidal criminals who you and your like keep in business.
I have no issues with medical marijuana when it’s properly controlled and prescribed, but that’s not what this is.
Consuming this garbage isn’t classed as having experience of anything, dealing with the consequences most definitely is.
“who you and your like keep in business.”
Actually by lobbying against legalizing personal growing, you keep the black market for smuggling alive instead of allowing Caymanians to grow their own supply.
How ironic.
Absolute BS, if that were true how come Canada still has an issue with the smuggling and growing of unregulated marijuana. It’s because human beings like taking risks , oh, and addiction.
Cannabis is not as irreproachable as you make it out to be. Just as with other drugs, there are negative side effects. Should it be banned? Probably not. The “Karen” reference makes you sound like a complete jackass.
How many Karens can you count in the younger generation? Compare to the 35-55 women demographic. It’s a clever way to narrow down.
You would be surprised who uses cannabis on a regular basis.
Ignorance is bliss…
My point is that ganga is used in its natural state.the others are chemically made.that my point
Cocoa? Are you Willy Wonka in disguise?
I mean, people do overdose on chocolate, I guess.
Look up Coca and try again.
Tell that to the family of the police officer killed in London last week, or the families of those killed and horrifically injured in Reading.
Both maniac attackers are linked to marijuana abuse and suffered mental illnesses associated with long term use.
Stop the BS about this ‘harmless’ drug, it isn’t and there is increasingly damning evidence from ‘real’ doctors, not liberal apologists, who are expressing real concern at the obvious links now being seen.
The weed in the UK is super-strength from decades of growing for increased potency and it is indeed powerful enough to induce psychosis with excessive sustained use. The weed available on the street here is very poor quality – 10 times weaker than in the UK. It isn’t causing the harm to which you are referring.
I do hope they got caught on “Throw back Thursday” cuz no wayyyy!!!!! that stuff needs to be flung back to wherever it came from!!!
Good bust, that quality looks horrific. Perhaps we should legalize weed for the following reasons:
Quality
Tourism
Kill the black market
Tax weed sales to increase government spending on schools and such
Well said.
It would also give people a healthier and far less destructive alternative to alcohol.
I grow my own. I really expect to see full legalization within the next 2 election cycles in the USA, then we’ll follow soon after like everything else if we can stop re-electing the fossils.. Every other tourist I took to stingray city asked me where to buy a spliff, and I wouldn’t mind providing some sales tax to CIG’s coffers.
Let’s ban alcohol 😂
Alcohol destroys peoples lives. Alcohol causes more deaths than all other illict drugs combined.
And yet booze is sold at every gas station, right beside the soda and candy.
Legalize it already
Yes probably. Next time they should get some real high grade. That stuff looks terrible.
That’s not ganja. That’s nastiness. Look at the mold and stems! C’mon Cayman and get wit the times! Let people in Cayman grow their own personal use ganja!
For once I thank them, jeez. That’s some cow dung quality. An absolute insult to be selling. Local grown vastly superior.
Oh how quiet the comment section is … LOCAL CAYMANIANS who made arrangements with Jamaicans to get the drugs here …
Yes probably. Next time they should get some real high grade. That stuff looks terrible.
Yeah maybe next time they should order it from America or Canada.
Should have got a longer for dealing with crap like that
I’m very sure they purchased cheap hence the poor quality.
There you go, not all locals hate jamaicans!
Do you really want to open the nationality can of worms??. Stop seeking sympathy and recourse for your criminals, because ours here in the cayman islands don’t get that privilege. Suppose the opposite of your statement was the case.
After the prison term is served, please revoke McInnis Cayman Status.
At least they can still soke their weed.
Nah too smart. You need to do it out at sea from canoe to fishing boat like everyone else.
In other news, legalise it and let’s move on.