Drug smugglers 'getting more creative'

The Nation Newspaper

Drug smugglers are using ingenious ways to bring illegal drugs into this country.

This warning has come from acting Police public relations officer, Station Sergeant David Welch.

However, despite these measures, he noted police had been able to seize an increased quantity of the illegal drugs.

"We found them in artifacts, we found them in different suitcases, in personal luggage and in shoes. There are many ingenious ways that people are trying to get them into the country," he said.

His comments came yesterday at Seawell, Christ Church, where police incinerated over 1 500 kilogrammes of illegal drugs which consisted of 2 606 marijuana plants, 19.77 kilogrammes of cocaine and 1 629.2 kilogrammes of cannabis.

The illegal drugs represented seizures made at Grantley Adams International Airport, drug landings on beaches around the island, as well as cases adjudicated between 2003 to the present.

"We realise there is an effort by people to cultivate cannabis plants and we are quite concerned about this.

"We realise the seizures have increased over the period of last year. We will be moving to stop people from growing and try to eradicate these plants," he said.

Welch pointed out that police found a high concentration of cannabis plants in St John and St Peter, but added "they were not the main cultivation areas".

Inspector Elliott Bovell of the Drug Squad said they had seen an increase in marijuana and cocaine over the last five years "from Jamaica, St Lucia and St Vincent.

"We have also seen an increase of drugs coming from Guyana, Suriname and going up to the UK [United Kingdom], United States and Canada," he added.

By Tracy Moore