The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FOUR acres of suspected marijuana with an estimated street value of $2.5m have been discovered in North Andros.

Police said yesterday that a joint operation between the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU), Andros Police District, the Criminal Investigation Department, Real-Time Crime Centre (RTCC) and crime scene officers, contributed to the suspected marijuana fields being uncovered in North Andros.

“The fields consisted of over 25,000 plants ranging in height from one foot to eight feet and over 20,000 seedlings.

Six Jamaican men, ages 52, 53, 42, 39, and two aged 43 were taken into custody and are assisting police with their investigations.”

This is not the only sizable discovery made by authorities this year.

In May, police arrested 21 Chinese nationals after 68 kilos of cocaine were seized in a $1.3m drug bust on a cargo boat near Arawak Cay.

“Police dogs alerted their handlers to several floors in several areas on that vessel. On inspection of those areas the officers found a quantity of a substance believed to be that of cocaine. The total amount was about 68 kilos, which was an estimated street value of $1,300,000,” it was said at the time.

“As a result of the find, 21 persons were taken into custody, these are all Chinese nationals, these include 20 males and a female.”

Police attributed this major drug bust to the “robust” amount of information collected by police. He also thanked members of the public who continued to help authorities investigate such matters.