Police took 35 knitted bags containing 693 cocaine-filled packages off the boat.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Monday April 18, 2016 – Lawmen have four alleged drug runners in custody after making their second biggest cocaine bust in history over the weekend.
Police seized close to 800 kilogrammes of cocaine, worth nearly J$1 billion (US$7.5 million) in the early hours of Saturday morning, in waters off Belmont which is located in the western parish of Westmoreland.
At around 1 a.m., a joint police and military team, which included the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) Air Wing team, intercepted a 28-foot vessel as it came ashore.
The law enforcement officers pursued and caught four men who attempted to flee the scene. On board the boat, they found 35 knitted bags containing 693 cocaine-filled packages wrapped in black masking tape.
“This seizure is a significant dent in the operation of drug traffickers. It is also evidence that cocaine is being trafficked back through Jamaica,” said Commissioner of Police Dr. Carl Williams after the drug bust.
“Local and international intelligence sources have suggested that cocaine in multi-hundred quantities has started to come back through this corridor and Jamaica. This seizure is evidence of that fact. We will be intensifying our assessment of the scope of the problem and will deploy our resources accordingly in partnership with our local and international partners.”
The United States Government, which has been providing consistent support to Jamaica’s anti-narcotics trafficking efforts, has welcomed news of the massive drug seizure.
The US Ambassador to Jamaica, Luis Moreno, who recently donated nine Boston Whaler vessels to boost the island’s capacity to patrol its coastal and territorial waters, praised the work of the security forces.
“This sends the message to the criminals that the game has changed,” he said.
Jamaica police made their biggest cocaine bust in the island’s history in 2002, when they seized approximately 1,227 kilogrammes of the drug in Belmont.