Four charged over 2,000 lb ganja seizure at sea in Alligator Pond
Police and the JDF Coast Guard seized over 2,000 pounds of ganja from a canoe near Alligator Pond, St Elizabeth on March 3. Four men on board were charged with possession, dealing, trafficking and export-related ganja offences.
🇯🇲 waters near Alligator Pond, St Elizabeth · Jamaica
Arrested
4
Charged
4
Cannabis
907.2 kg
Agencies
Jamaica Constabulary Force Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division, Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard
Four men who were held at sea allegedly with over 2,000 pounds of ganja in
Alligator Pond, St Elizabeth have been charged.[1]The four are Paul Stanley
Kelly, 57, Omar Nard, 40, Achiema McKoy, 37, and Carl Manderson, 35.[1]Kelly
and Nard are of Rocky Point, Clarendon, McKoy is of Braes River, St Elizabeth,
and Manderson is of Hellshire, St Catherine.[1]They were charged with
possession of ganja, dealing in ganja, trafficking ganja, taking steps
preparatory to export ganja and conspiracy to export ganja.[2]
The seizure happened on Tuesday, March 3.[1]The operation was a coordinated
effort between the Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division and the Jamaica
Defence Force Coast Guard.[1]About 12:07 am, the joint team intercepted a
canoe with four men on board in the waters near Alligator Pond.[2]On boarding
and searching the vessel, officers found several knitted bags containing
compressed ganja.[2]The seized ganja weighed over 2,000 pounds.[1]Police
put the haul’s estimated street value at $15.1 million.[2]
The reports state the weight only as over 2,000 pounds, so 907.2 kg is a conversion of 2,000 pounds and the exact weighed amount was not reported.
The sources give the value as $15.1 million without naming the currency, so it is recorded as Jamaican dollars, the local currency, though no source explicitly says JMD.
The Observer gives two addresses more precisely (West End, Rocky Point and Half Moon Bay, Hellshire) than the Gleaner (Rocky Point and Hellshire); this report uses the shared locality names.
The seizure occurred on March 3 while the charges were reported on March 10-11, and no separate calendar date for the charging itself was stated.
No court outcome beyond the charges was reported; investigations were said to be ongoing.
The Gleaner page carries only a File photo and the Observer page a stock image of marijuana, so no event photo is listed.
The Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard intercepted a vessel southwest of Long Bay Beach, Manchester, seizing over 2,286 pounds of marijuana valued at about $45 million. Four people were detained and handed over with the drugs to the police narcotics division for processing.
Police seized over 1,500 pounds of compressed ganja from a truck on Church Street in Morant Bay, St Thomas, on 1 October 2025 and arrested its driver, Fabian Watson, 33, a Clarendon haulage contractor. He was charged on Friday with possession, dealing, trafficking and export-related ganja offences; police valued the ganja at about J$4.7 million.
Police intercepted two cars on the Pamphret main road in St Thomas on September 26, 2025, seizing 1,600 pounds of compressed ganja in 33 bags. Two men were arrested and charged with possession, dealing, export-preparation and trafficking offences.
Three men are being prosecuted over 1,890 pounds (about 857 kg) of compressed ganja that police said they were taking to a Jamaican port on 15 August 2025. Two were granted $1 million bail, the third stayed in lockup, and the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court set 6 January 2026 for case management.
