Saturday, January 18, 2003

JAMAICA

$1.4-b ganja bust - Drug disguised as yam, readied for export

The police have seized nearly 10,000 pounds of marijuana -- which traffickers attempted to disguise as yams for export -- at Kingston's container port, being readied for shipping to the United States. The drug has an estimated street value of $1.4 billion. The find was made on by the Contraband Enforcement Team during routine checks of containers at the Gordon Cay facility waiting for loading on ships."The vigilance of the security forces, who were doing routine checks, is responsible for this ganja find," said the head of the narcotics police, Senior Superintendent Carl Williams.

The drug was packed in cardboard cartons with the markings "Produce of Jamaica" and packed alongside other cartons of yam, but labelled "Product of Jamaica". There was a total of 248 boxes. Workers at the narcotics base sifted through the boxes to determine which had yams and those with marijuana. They also carefully weighed the drug which came up to 9,027 pounds. One of the factors that apparently alerted the police to the likelihood of contraband being in the shipment, destined for New York and New Jersey, was the discrepancy in the weight of the boxes. Each export box of yam has a standard weight of 45 pounds. Those with the marijuana weighed 55 pounds -- 10 pounds heavier.

Although no arrests have been made in connection with the seize, Williams said that the police were following several leads in the investigation.

Jamaica Receives Emergency Oil Shipment

Jamaica received 370,000 barrels of oil from Ecuador this month in an emergency shipment intended to help the country avoid a shortage caused by Venezuela's general strike.

In Jamaica, current oil reserves in Jamaica are lower than usual, enough to last only four more weeks, said Christopher Chin-Fatt of the state-run oil company PetroJam. "This crude is coming just in time," Chin-Fatt said. "We have enough, but not as much as we'd like."

Before the strike, Jamaica received 50 to 60 percent of its oil from Venezuela, or roughly 400,000 to 450,000 barrels per month. Chin-Fatt would not disclose the cost of the shipment. A similar-sized shipment is scheduled to arrive from Mexico by the end of January. "But that's a little close," he said. "We're trying to advance that date."

Jamaica opening batsman Leon Garrick injured in car accident in Jamaica

Leon Garrick of Jamaica's national cricket team was injured in a car crash in St. Catherine parish, cricket officials said recently. The 26-year-old batsman suffered minor head abrasions in a two-car accident late Monday, said Brian Breese of the Jamaica Cricket Association. Garrick was released from St. Ann's Bay Hospital and he will be fit to play in Jamaica's regional season opener against the Leeward Islands in Anguilla on Jan. 31, Breese said. Leftarm offspinner Lorenzo Ingram, 20, was a passenger in the car but he did not suffer any injuries, Breese said.

Ingram, a member of the West Indies under-19 team that played in the World Youth Cup in Sri Lanka earlier this year, was trying out for Jamaica's national team. Garrick and Ingram were returning from a training session in Kingston, cricket officials said. They were heading toward St. Ann parish, 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Kingston, where Garrick lives. His car collided with a utility truck on a curvy road, Breese said. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the accident.

Garrick, an attacking opening batsman, made his first-class debut for Jamaica in the 1996-1997 season and has since scored 2,732 runs in 49 matches including six centuries. His best score of 208 not out was made against the West Indies 'B' team in the 2001 Busta Cup series. In that match, Garrick and Chris Gayle posted a record stand of 425 runs for the first wicket. Garrick has played one Test for the West Indies, against South Africa at Sabina Park in 2001.

Another Jamaican cricketer, Laurie Williams, died in an auto accident in Kingston in September.

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