| KINGSTON, May 21 (JIS): |
 The
country has been winning the fight against the illegal drug trade,
with the arrests of 5,844 persons for breaches of the Dangerous Drugs
Act, during last year.Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, in his Sectoral presentation in Gordon House on May 18, informed that among those apprehended were eight individuals, who have been the target of long-term investigations for their suspected roles in high-level drug trafficking in the international arena. The eight arrests, the Minister said, precipitated the seizure of over 25 high value motor vehicles, and several other assets. Some of these high profile cases, he noted, were now going through the courts. He attributed part of the success in interdiction and arrests to collaboration with other countries, notably, Colombia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. He pointed out that the apprehensions have helped to dispel a public perception that some “so-called big men” were beyond the law either because of corruption in the police force or connections to politics and warned that in the fight against organized crime there were no untouchables. “Nobody is beyond the law whether they are in the drug trade or the so-called big men of violence at the community level. There are no political or ministerial restrictions on the police to do their job under the law,” he stated. Another area of positive achievement in the drive against illegal drugs, the Minister informed, was the reduction in the use of “swallowers and others who have attempted to smuggle drugs on their person”. He noted that with the installation of the ionscan technology, there has been significant reduction in the cocaine-smuggling trade using swallowers; moving from the arrests of 351 persons in 2002 to 88 in 2003, while 32 swallowers have been arrested so far this year. In addition, Dr. Phillips informed that over the past year, over US$2 million in cash had been seized at the airports from persons subsequently charged with unlawful possession of property and on Tuesday (May 18), two cash couriers were also convicted and sent to prison for possession of close to US$200,000. The money seized, he said, has been turned over to the State and Cabinet has approved the use of these funds for re-investment in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Meanwhile, Dr. Phillips told the House that intelligence reports have indicated that the courier trade has been diverted to other countries in the region, while interdiction efforts have substantially reduced the overall trans-shipment trade through Jamaica, evidenced by the increase in the local price of cocaine. He said that the Ministry has also commissioned a major drug study to examine the scale and structure of the illegal drug trade and its impact on Jamaica. A team of local and international experts, headed by criminologists from Howard University are in the island conducting the research, which will provide comprehensive data on all aspects of the trade, including patterns of drug abuse and the attitudes of Jamaicans towards the trade. |
