CBC sees increase in ‘personal’ drug imports
(CNS): Customs and Border Control officers are seeing a significant increase in the number of passengers arriving at Owen Roberts International Airport with drugs in their pockets and in their bags. As the legalisation of ganja spreads across North America, travellers, including the rich and famous, seem unaware of the strict rules here on non-medicinal cannabis.
Earlier this month, US social influencer and model Gigi Hadid (28) arrived in the Cayman Islands on a small private jet with vapes and an undisclosed quantity of ganja in her luggage. She and her travelling companion, Leah Nicole McCarthy, also from the United States, were charged with possession and importation of drugs.
Both women were arrested and taken to the detention centre and bailed before they were charged and appeared in summary court last week. They pleaded guilty and were each fined $1,000 with no convictions recorded.
But according to CBC Director Charles Clifford, this is becoming increasingly common. Speaking to CNS last week, he said that personal possession of drugs by people coming into the airport is increasing, especially cannabis vapes, gummies and psilocybin mushrooms.
Clifford said it’s mostly small amounts that people have acquired legally in various places in America and Canada and then forgotten about or they just assumed that they would be able to bring them in.
“We are now seeing the impact of the liberalisation of drug policies in other countries,” Clifford said. “But we have our own drug laws here, and we need to enforce them. There cannot be a double standard.”
He said that, as is the case with North American travellers bringing in guns or ammunition acquired legally there, Cayman must get the message out about our own drug laws. CBC is working with the IATA to come up with effective messaging that airlines can deliver to passengers about not carrying into Cayman drugs or weapons that would be legal in their home countries.
Clifford noted that all contraband that is seized uses up a lot of resources and distracts his officers from the criminal smuggling of larger quantities of drugs and can be very expensive. “We need to work on the messaging so we can reduce this type of smuggling,” he said, though clarified that the CBC will continue to seize illegal drugs without a prescription.
Clifford explained that CBC officers need to remain vigilant over the more dangerous drugs that are being imported, such as increasingly potent cannabis that is far stronger than the traditional ganja grown in the Caribbean. He also noted the emergence of fentanyl, which is not yet a major problem, but given its growing proliferation on the streets, it is a drug that the CBC is increasingly concerned about.
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Simple solution, do what SINGAPORE does. Large signs (in your face) at all Ports of Entry and an ‘Amnesty Bin’. Place stuff in bin BEFORE crossing the line and no harm, no foul. Get caught after & your goose cook!
Surely there are countless visitors that arrive with “prescribed medication” in their bags, from their doctors at home, just as Caymanians travel elsewhere with their Cayman-doctor prescribed medications. Are we now going through everyone’s bags and arresting people for not having domestic prescriptions for Ativan, Valium, Oxycodone, Percocet, and other potentially miss-usable Rx drugs? Should the USA and elsewhere apply the same standard for us? The Cabinet needs to update our laws to keep pace with times and make more sense. Better to just legalise recreational cannabis use for those over 18 than grab international headlines detaining and fining guests that haven’t really done anything wrong. Cayman is always making the wrong headlines.
How is this saving the territory? Complete waste of time.
The easy answer is to put them back on the plane. Let the airlines fly them back. You dont have to arrest them. Just deny entry. Cheaper and easier all around.
Or… LEGALIZE IT
cayman islands, always a century behind the rest of the world.
turtle power!
The man implicated in a conspiracy to illegally seize perfectly legally held marijuana wants to lecture people on following the law. Bit like the RCIPS lecturing people on drinking and driving when they select decide who to breathalyze after road accidents.
The rich will continue to go free
I think they should legalise it and place $100 a cigarette. It will pay off the medical bills government needs to pay each year when insurance companies refuse to pay.
That isn’t ‘legalising’, that is penalising, and if it isn’t a better deal that current illegal ganja, then NOBODY will support it. Your proposal is not a better deal. A more enlightened view might be to legalise personal use of under two ounces/60 grams and six plants.
Second wave — and this is the moneymaker and community support wave — give growing licences to selected farmers, hire local elderly to sift, and package and tax it. Everybody benefits, except the former drug dealers.
Visitors shouldn’t be penalised for personal use amounts, especially those who use medical marijuana (gummies, actual ganja, etc.)
The Customs Declaration Form specifically lists rizzlas…and even more bizarrely a tonic wine from Jamaica.
Pact needs to go.
You need to go. BTW, which foreign country are you from?
Fast-tracked secretly through our Courts, with no convictions recorded, just a slap on the wrist, no big thing, a small fine, welcome back anytime Gigi, we apologise for the inconvenience.
But if a resident gets caught like this… the case is dragged out publicly over 3 years by the DPP, the accused shamed, fired, and made out to be wicked. And the conviction is recorded, oh yes we make sure of that. Good luck with getting another job (except as an MP).
“There cannot be a double standard”, says Chuckie.
Lol.
What about people arriving with guns? Whatever happens to them?
Rich immunity clause.
They target those who have money and let the poor smugglers slide right through.
Except as an MP, I buss out laughing so hard!!!
Only people Gigi was hurting were the local dealers. End result was that she had to buy from them anyway.
It behooves me to say in this hour that Gigi should be doing several months of hard gulag time community service for this offensive crime. Americans in particular need to realize they’re arriving into a foreign country and need to comply with another country’s laws. God save the Queen!
King
What is this hard gulag time time community service you refer to? Hard gulag time doesn’t exactly seem synonymous with community service, which most people view as a soft option. And where are the public examples of people serving community service like picking up trash on the roads? We save that for the NICE program and pay for it.
Grow up. We have medical marijuana laws, but those don’t extend to visitors. Why? How many tourism dollars does this cost us that people with valid medical marijuana needs have to “smuggle” their “meds” to visit here?
Liz’ gone now.
Instagram:
CMR – 75K illiterate followers
Gigi – 79M followers
Who you think wins in the end?
Cannabis users in Cayman, ‘cuz there’s no way they’re going to get away with recording convictions for locals after letting a rich tourist get away with importing illicit substances and drug paraphernalia. Precedent set for this to be decriminalized.
No way they are going to get away with it. ROFLOL. You want to buy a nice bridge to Little? We have a wonderful track record in not recording the convictions of those that are connected. Ask the former Miss World Cayman, Minister Bryan, Austin Harris for example. All beneficiaries of a sympathetic court, whereas others convicted of the same offences absolutely did get their assault convictions recorded.
They haven’t been recording these types of convictions for anyone for years. Problem locals have is that every time they get caught with a likkle herb, they doing some other dumb shit at the same time. You really think our illiterate police officers have any interest in doing the paperwork for a personal use possession charge? Get real bruh.
Preach. Wrong spliff, wrong person, wrong activity, wrong place, wrong time = busted. Millions successfully transport recreationally for entire lifetimes without getting busted at any time for doing stupid sh!t. The last part is always optional. Some people can even muster smarter sh!t, but not everyone. Not Gigi on that day, or the PA that packed her, or their pilot.
Yup. The risk level is low enough if you’re just buying and using at home. You can do it all your life and would need extremely bad luck/to not take the most basic of precautions to get caught. I call it ‘weed safety’:
– wash hands
– eye drops
– cologne
– mouthwash
– airtight container in car
For ultimate safety, keep a prescription for oil at home too.
I hope Gigi and the professor Sue CMR.
The woman is despicable.
Sandra is hot garbage water on her best day, but what could an international drug smuggler possibly sue her over? Reporting facts on the story?
CMR is trash
cayman islands…an international laughing stock yet again.
especially for the wealthy who knows that that they have a free pass here
The penelzation of tourists who mistakenly carried in small amounts of Ganja may cause terrible damage to brand Cayman.
Millions of people around the world who saw the news story of the week, will now think of Cayman as the place that harasses tourists for an innocent mistake.
Next time they find a small amount of ganja, they should just dispose of it and move on. No need to waste public funds and give our tourism brand a bad rap.
If they want to show that Cayman is a law abiding nation,then how about go after the criminals who rule our streets of late.
Tourism gal has entered the chat
Try accidentally carrying ganga into Singapore and see what happens if you are caught. Doesn’t seem to damage their tourism.
When Cayman starts going after corruption, littering, thieves and criminals the way that Singapore does, they can then follow their recreational drug policies.
Caymans penalties for such importation, whether accidental in innocence or otherwise, pale by comparison to other countries. Still…you rarely hear about many people getting snagged for a such a small amount of contraband. But Laws are Laws at the end of a day.
Gigi didn’t make a big deal out of the incident , but Cayman did get a nice mention as her & her pal flashed their bikini bodies on 7 mile beach. I seriously doubt Caymans tourism product will suffer too much.
What a joke of a person Chickie is. He openly admits that larger quantities of drugs are being smuggled, and personal amounts are taking up his officers’ time. Still, as chief, he doesn’t focus the resources on the real criminals bringing in large quantities for sale. He would rather still lock up young Caymanians for possessing negligible amounts. These are the type of incompetent people running the country. Only worried about collecting a salary. Can’t see the forest for the trees!
Legalize it period
You remind me of a Tubes song titled white punks on dope.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XJDQFLLdZ_k&pp=ygUTd2hpdGUgcHVua3Mgb24gZG9wZQ%3D%3D
What they should do is put up signs at the airport offering amnesty for people who are willing to turn over the drugs upon arrival without prosecution.
Kind of like the way they ask you if you have any fruit when you arrive in the US. The whole thing is absurd anyway, but this might stop the time wasting for people who didn’t realise that marijuana is illegal here (unless you go to a doctor, complain of a minor ailment and get a prescription).
It truly is absurd that people can walk around here with impunity with cannabis while others are prosecuted for doing the same thing – they are being punished for not acquiring the product through the “approved” means.
Now that it’s legal across more and more of the US it seems pointless to keep up this charade.
There are now boxes before Immigration for you to dump contraband into without penalty.
If DoT can’t even be bothered to convince airlines that we are not “the Grand Cayman Islands”, or that paper Customs and Immigration forms have been replaced with RFID passport reading automated entry machines, and bigger family duty free allowances, then good luck Mr Clifford.
The owner/operators of Cayman’s FOB for private aviation have a responsibility to convey the inbound travel rules on pet quarantines, MRCU protocols, guns and drugs for every flight plan filed. Will CIAA be fining them?
Tourists should not be given special treatment!
I can’t take my MEDICAL Cannabis when I travel from Cayman.
A tiny fine to her, is a drop in the bucket. She should be at the very least have to “socially influence” everyone on why she was wrong, not bragging about missing a jail sentence.
Any of us entering the US with drugs would be in jail.
But will the Kenny & Rosa special terminal for rich and famous have a special room for the elite to partake in these types of activities?
It will have specially trained customs officers who will know not to look in their bags.
The problem is the US does not depend on our $$$ for their economy to flourish, unlike us. It would be most beneficial to Cayman to legalize cannabis for recreational purposes.
What a total waste of time. Just legalize it.
Just legalize drugs and let people do what they want with their own bodies.
Glad all the criminals can have guns from the import of drugs. Legalize drugs and no more guns coming in.
Atleast legalize pepper spray, all criminals know people dont have a gun thats why theres so many robberies.
You the RICPS get paid enough to care?
All well and good but Mr Clifford needs explain why those responsible for importing dangerous drugs like Fentanyl are still out here on our streets importing and selling illegal drugs and guns and is being helped by certain Government people to continue to commit crime.
Ask Wayne, Alden, the Governor and the Lodge.
No doubt you will get a unified answer.
All that money for nothing.
Gorlock the Destroyer would do a better job.
Or we could just legalise…
Or we could just grow up and legalise it…
Got to recognize it..
I’m in an echo chamber and can’t get out.
“There cannot be a double standard.”
Whereas alcohol can be bought 7 days a week, can be overdosed on unlike cannabis, and is the leading cause of death on our roads, but I can’t legally grow a plant that I’ve been legally prescribed by a locally licensed doctor despite being promised to be able to do this by Julianna when she last campaigned..
apparent now why she claims to not be running again.
MONEY
Any luck catching the gun smugglers Chuckster? Or we just worried about the low hanging fruit as usual?
exactly why we should legalize as well. We allow for medical cannibas so let’s just get on with it already. Savings all around!
CI Government says, “There cannot be a double standard.”
Ok, so the next time a black boy is arrested for possessing a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, he should receive the same $1,000 slap on the wrist and no conviction should appear on his record, rather than have his life destroyed by criminal conviction and incarceration.
There cannot be a double standard.
EXACTLY!
Precisely. Great comment.
Happens every day, whether you want to admit it or not. We literally have convicted drug dealers running our country.
Cocaine dealers at that…
Its about who has the better lawyer, or…who even has a lawyer…. The little Black boy cant afford a good lawyer…go figure!!!
I see a lot of little black boys that have a high powered daddy that can afford a great lawyer on this island. I don’t know what you’re talking about….
I agree completely! All of this nonsense policing of small amounts of a natural herb for personal use is ridiculous! And many of those prosecuting drinking copious amounts of alcohol regularly, and often then driving too and committing other abuses.
It has nothing to do with color. It’s about rich and poor.
It’s foolish to think race and class aren’t related.