Dancehall artiste Munga Honourable, whose given name is Damion Rhoden, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana

Dancehall artiste Munga Honourable, whose given name is Damion Rhoden, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday.Rhoden appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown.The court was told that on the day in question, the police searched Rhoden and a small quantity of ganja found. Rhoden was sentenced to pay $200 or serve seven days in jail.The deejay is known for such hits as Wine Pan It and Bad From Mi Born.

Bryan Williams and Troy Morris, were both arrested by the police and brought before the court yesterday

The driver and passenger, Bryan Williams and Troy Morris, were both arrested by the police and brought before the court yesterday. Allegations in case are that the police intercepted the vehicle sometime after 7 p.m. after being tipped off with the information. An initial search of the vehicle, on the spot, did not turn up any illegal substance. However, when the vehicle was searched in detail at the Narcotics headquarters the following day, almost six kilo-grams of cocaine was found hidden in a concealed compartment close to the trunk of the vehicle. The men were subsequently charged with possession of, dealing in, taking steps to export, trafficking and conspiracy to export cocaine. Both men have, however, denied knowledge or ownership of the find. When the case appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, Williams' attorney said his client borrowed the vehicle from the owner and had no knowledge of the drug. She also noted that the compartment in which it was found was not a concealed one, as the investigating officer had outlined, but was a standard feature of vehicles of those make, allowing for the storage of lug tools. The Star has learnt that vehicle belonged to Williams' brother, who was now in police custody. All three men are to attend court today when the matter will again be mentioned.

Ivan Gonzalez-Bejarano Colombian drug lord was sentenced to life in prison

Ivan Gonzalez-Bejarano was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday to life in prison on charges of conspiring to import and distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.In a related case, five Jamaican nationals have pleaded guilty to charges of smuggling drugs into the U.S., the U.S. Attorney's Office announced today.The two investigations were conducted by Operation Panama Express, which targets Colombian drug smuggling operations. Members of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, IRS and U.S. Coast Guard are part of the task force.
Prosecutors call Gonzalez-Bejarano a "Colombian cocaine kingpin," and he was found guilty of the charges in October after a two-week jury trial.For more than 20 years, Gonzalez-Bejarano was the head of an organization that smuggled into the U.S. about 30,000 kilograms of cocaine that had a wholesale value of more than $500 million, according to testimony at the trial. U.S. Attorney's Office announced that five Jamaican nationals extradited to the U.S. in July each pleaded guilty to drug smuggling charges.They are: Robroy Williams, nicknamed "Spy," 51; Norris Nembhard, known as "Dido," 53; Glenford Williams, also known as "Toe," 55; Vivian Dalley, nicknamed "Jungo," 49; and Herbert Henry, known as "Scary," 46.The five people pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to import more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana into the U.S., prosecutors say.
Williams also pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine while aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S., prosecutors say.According to court documents, Jamaica serves as a shipment point for cocaine from Colombia to the U.S. Williams and Nembhard made deals to accept delivery in Jamaica of cocaine shipments between 600 and 1,000 kilograms, prosecutors say.The cocaine was delivered by go-fast vessels, and small quantities from these shipments were sold in Jamaica with larger quantities going to the U.S. by air or sea, often through the Bahamas, prosecutors say.In Jamaica, the cocaine, along with large amounts of marijuana and hash oil, was stored in rural safe houses controlled by Williams and maintained by co-defendants Glenford Williams and Ivan Kenneth Huggins, who were sentenced in 2006.The go-fast boats landed at various Jamaican beaches, including Negril and Montego Bay, investigators say. Robroy Williams and Nembhard paid members of the Jamaican Constabulary Force, including co-defendant Herbert Henry, to provide security and transportation of the cocaine, prosecutors say.Couriers and money changers, including Dalley, returned the money made from the sale of cocaine to Colombia, prosecutors say.

Naomi Williams of London was arrested at the Norman Manley International Airport last month while preparing to board a flight to England.

Naomi Williams of London was arrested at the Norman Manley International Airport last month while preparing to board a flight to England.The narcotics police say three pounds of cocaine which is worth millions on the streets in England was found in her luggage.When captured Ms Williams, a student at a University in England said nothing.Tuesday, she clutched a Bible while her attorney Lancelot Clarke applied for bail.Senior Magistrate Glen Brown had initially offered bail amounting to $5 million but reduced the figure to $3 million at the request of her attorney.
She is to return to court on September 3. In recent months, the narcotics police have reported an increase in the trafficking of cocaine out of the country.

Leebert Ramcharan White House-designated Drug Kingpin, was sentenced today

Leebert Ramcharan, a U.S. White House-designated Drug Kingpin, was sentenced today by U.S. district Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz to 440 months’ imprisonment on his March 5, 2008 conviction on charges of conspiracy to import and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five (5) kilograms or more of cocaine.Ramcharan and co-defendant Williams, who was also convicted at trial, were arrested in the Montego Bay area of Jamaica in 2004, and extradited from Jamaica to the United States in 2007, after their extradition was approved by the Jamaican Supreme Court. According to the evidence presented at trial, defendant Ramcharan was the leader of a sophisticated cocaine smuggling operation in Jamaica. From 1998 through 2004, this drug organization received as much as fifteen (15) thousand kilograms of cocaine imported via go fast vessels from the Northern Coast of Colombia. The cocaine was then stored in Jamaica, and subsequently it was transported to the Bahamas on boats and airplanes. Ultimately, the cocaine was imported into the U.S. for distribution and sale in South Florida. Mr. Acosta commended the extraordinary cooperation of the Colombian National Police, the Jamaican Constabulary Force, the Royal Bahamian Police Force, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division, Jamaican Country Office, Bahamian Country Office and Bogota Country Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Alicia Shick and Arthur Wyatt.

Yhans Haughton is charged with possession, dealing in and attempting to export some 7.5 pounds of ganja

Yhans Haughton, 24, auto body repairman of Hampton in Runaway Bay, was offered $250,000 bail with one or two sureties, and ordered to report to the Runaway Bay police Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
He is charged with possession, dealing in and attempting to export some 7.5 pounds of ganja that was found in two secret compartments in a flight pack he had checked in. It is alleged that on March 31, he checked in a flight pack and a Pullman suitcase to board an Air Jamaica flight to Nassau, Bahamas. The flight pack was taken to the boarding gate and searched in his presence.
Eight packages containing vegetable matter resembling ganja were allegedly found. Under caution, he pleaded with the officer to give him a chance.
Defence attorney Adrian Dayes in a bail application told the court that his client got the flight pack to deliver to someone and that Haughton had no knowledge that it contained contraband.
The accused man is scheduled to return to court on May 15. In the meantime, the court is awaiting several statements and the forensic report to complete the case file.

Leebert Ramcharan ,Samuel Knowles Two Caribbean smugglers who were designated by the White House as international drug kingpins

Jamaican Leebert Ramcharan led a sophisticated drug smuggling organization that received as many as 15,000 kilos of cocaine from the north coast of Colombia from 1998 to 2004, prosecutors said.
Two Caribbean smugglers who were designated by the White House as international drug kingpins were convicted on smuggling charges and could face life in prison, U.S. prosecutors said on Wednesday.The shipments were stored in Jamaica, later sent to the Bahamas and then transported to the U.S. market, they said.Ramcharan was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to import and conspiracy to possess narcotics with the intent to distribute, the Miami U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
In a separate case, Bahamian Samuel Knowles, who was extradited to Florida in 2006, was found guilty of two drug counts and ordered to forfeit nearly $14 million of illegal proceeds for bringing thousands of kilos of cocaine to the United States in 1995 and 1996, prosecutors said.Several years ago, the Bush administration put both men on a U.S. blacklist that barred American banks from dealing with suspected international drug traffickers or their companies in an attempt to cripple their narcotics businesses.Both were scheduled for sentencing on May 23 and faced possible life prison terms.

Dean Stewart

22-year-old Dean Stewart claimed that he did not know what kind or how much dope was stuffed in the hollowed-out limbs when he boarded Air Jamaica Flight 15 to Kennedy Airport last November.
He acknowledged that he was given the drugs to carry but stated that he did not touch it.
U.S. marshals brought Stewart to court in a wheelchair because federal agents seized his prosthetic limbs, which were filled with about 2.2 pounds of cocaine.
Customs inspectors at John F. Kennedy Airport became suspicious of Stewart because his round-trip ticket had been purchased in cash only three days earlier.
He had also made three brief visits to the U.S. last summer.
Stewart faces 24 to 37 months in prison under his plea deal.

Zackre Montague

Zackre Montague said he was offered J$200,000 to fetch cocaine and agreed to do the job because he was in desperate need of the money. He pleaded guilty to trafficking in narcotics. He was later sentenced to three years in prison and fined GYD$10,000(USD$49). Montague checked in his suitcase on a Caribbean Airlines flight to Jamaica via Port of Spain.Massiah said CANU officers who were on duty noticed that Montague was acting in a suspicious manner at the internal scanner and approached him.

Based on his response to their questions, Massiah said, he was taken to the external scanner where he was asked to point out his suitcase. He pointed out a black suitcase to the officers who, on checking the interior, discovered two tins. They were searched and the cocaine was found.

65% of all drugs in the UK had come from Jamaica.

Jamaican drug mules are reportedly paid between £2,000 (J$130,400) and £5,000 (J$335,000) for each trip.
The deputy head of the Jamaican narcotics police, Superintendent Glendon Wright, said a survey last year had shown that 65% of all drugs in the UK had come from Jamaica.four tonnes of cocaine is making its way into the UK each year through drug mules.

one in 10 air passengers from Jamaica were smuggling drugs

Jamaica's narcotics police have reportedly said "umpteen drugs couriers are travelling from Jamaica to the UK".