Four arrested as Bermuda customs seize 58 lb of cannabis worth $1.2m
Bermuda police and HM Customs arrested four people in Operation Mizar after customs intercepted a shipment containing about 58 pounds of cannabis, valued by police at $1.2 million. Officers searched three residences in Warwick, and the Drugs Unit said it was continuing to investigate.
Officers from HM Customs, Bermuda’s customs service, intercepted a shipment that
was found to contain about 58 pounds (about 26.3 kg) of cannabis.[1]Police
put the street value of the shipment at $1.2 million in Bermuda dollars.[1]Four people were arrested in connection with the shipment.[1]Police officers
searched three residences in Warwick, the parish where the arrests were made.[1]The Bermuda Police Service Drugs Unit was called in after the interception,
and police ran the joint operation with HM Customs under the name Operation
Mizar.[2]
The Royal Gazette reported that Operation Mizar was carried out on a Thursday,
four people were arrested and three homes in Warwick were searched.[2]Detective Chief Inspector Sherwin Joseph, who heads the Specialist
Investigations Department, said the importation of cannabis is still illegal.[1]Joseph said drugs imported in this way involve members of organised crime
groups who are also involved in gang and gun culture.[2]Police said they
would give no further information while the Drugs Unit continued to investigate
the incident.[1]
Photos and video
Cannabis seized in Operation Mizar, the joint police and HM Customs operation, in a police handout photo labelled with the operation's name and published with the Bermuda Police Service statement.Photo details
Neither account says where in Bermuda the shipment was intercepted or by what route it arrived.
No figure was published for any cannabis found during the searches of the three Warwick residences, which may be separate from the intercepted shipment.
The four arrested people were not named and no charges, court dates or outcomes were reported.
The Royal Gazette caption describes the photograph only as cannabis seized in Operation Mizar and does not show which part of the haul is depicted.
Yemariam Teshome, 21, of Ontario, pleaded not guilty in Bermuda's Supreme Court to conspiring to import more than $1 million of cannabis into the island between an unknown date and 21 June 2026, and to possessing it with intent to supply. A judge set a mention for 11 December and a fixed trial date of 15 February.
Ty Lawes was sentenced to six years in Bermuda's Supreme Court on 7 October 2026 for importing 16,855.4 grams of cannabis resin through LF Wade International Airport on 20 July 2023, when he was 17. The judge said the sentence would have exceeded ten years had he committed the offence as an adult, even with a guilty plea.
Arrested 1Charged 1Cannabis 16.8554 kgPrison 6 years
Bermuda police and HM Customs arrested four people after a joint operation on 15 March 2023 in which warrants were executed at a Hamilton business and homes in Devonshire and Pembroke, and a shipping container was seized and searched. Police valued the cannabis found in the container at $1.9 million and said the drugs unit was continuing to investigate.
Bermuda police and HM Customs intercepted a shipment containing about 120 pounds of cannabis, worth an estimated $5 million, and arrested three suspects when warrants were executed in Pembroke and St George's on 24 October 2022. The joint operation, named Operation Minotaur, was described by police as a significant seizure, and the police Drugs Unit said its investigation was continuing.
