Coke valued $13.4M bound for TT seized in Jamaica

The cocaine is believed to have originated in Venezuela and then moved to Jamaica for transport via a container to Trinidad.

Yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Crime Irwin Hackshaw told Newsday that he had not yet been officially informed of the drug bust but added that once the information reaches Interpol in this country and he is officially informed then an investigation will be mounted by the Organised Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB) to ascertain to whom the container was consigned.

He said police now will be working closely with authorities in Jamaica to assist in this investigation so that closure could be made and those culpable for the offence detained and brought to justice.

According to Hackshaw, Trinidad and Tobago shares extremely good relations with other Caricom countries in partnering in the fight against crime including the illegal transhipment of drugs and arms and ammunition.

Newsday also contacted Senior Customs officials who also indicated that they were not officially informed of the drug find but will be making contact with their counterparts in Jamaica to render any assistance needed in this latest probe.

Authorities in Jamaica said yesterday that due to the sensitive nature of the investigation they are still in the process of gathering information and putting together documents before they make official contact with TT authorities for assistance in this investigation.

Newsday understands documents from Jamaica are to be sent to this country to be scrutinised so that suspects could be questioned locally based on the paper trail derived from documents at the Port in Jamaica.

According to a report in The Gleaner “The Narcotics Police have made a second multimillion-dollar cocaine seizure in the last 72 hours.

In the latest incident, the Narcotics Police report that 11.25 kilogrammes of cocaine, valued at $13.4 million, was found inside a container at Port Bustamante, in Kingston last night.

Law enforcement sources revealed that the container arrived in the island from Venezuela on Saturday.

According to one source, the container, stocked with empty glass bottles, was destined for Trinidad and Tobago.

However, it’s reported that detectives from the Narcotics Police division, along with members of the Customs Enforcement Team, were conducting operations at Kingston Freeport Terminal when they detected “anomalies” with the seal on the container.

The container was searched and the police say ten rectangular parcels were found with white powdery substance believed to be cocaine.

Last Friday, members of the Narcotics Police division arrested a 46-year-old businessman and another man in Manchester after 15 kilogrammes of cocaine valued at over $21 million was allegedly found in a car in which they were travelling.