71-year-old St Catherine farmer charged after three-pound ganja seizure
Portmore police charged 71-year-old Austin McCalla, a farmer from Bellas Gate, Old Harbour, with possession of and dealing in ganja after police found over three pounds (about 1.36 kg) of the drug in a bag he dropped on Queens Avenue in Gregory Park, St Catherine. He was arrested and charged, and his court date was still being finalised.
🇯🇲 Queens Avenue, Gregory Park, St Catherine · Jamaica
Portmore police charged a 71-year-old farmer with possession of ganja and
dealing in ganja after an incident on Queens Avenue in Gregory Park, St
Catherine, on Saturday.[1]The farmer is Austin McCalla, also called “Bigga
Man”, of Bellas Gate, Old Harbour, in the parish.[1]
The Portmore police said that at about 2:30 pm a police team observed McCalla at
a stall making a purchase, with a black bag in his right hand.[1]On seeing
the police, McCalla allegedly threw the bag to the ground, and the officers
approached, accosted and searched him before retrieving the bag.[1]The police
said the bag was searched, and a large quantity of vegetable matter resembling
ganja was reportedly found.[1]The contents of the bag weighed over three
pounds, about 1.36 kg.[1]McCalla was arrested and subsequently charged with
possession of ganja and dealing in ganja.[1]
His court date is being finalised.[1]The account of the arrest and the
charges came from the Portmore police.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Airport personnel at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston found two pounds (about 0.91 kg) of vegetable matter resembling ganja in the suitcase of a 20-year-old Canadian passenger on 5 October 2025. He was arrested and later charged with possession, dealing and taking steps preparatory to exporting ganja, and a court date was being finalised.
Police in Falmouth, Trelawny, arrested a 33-year-old woman at a People's National Party meeting and seized a 9mm pistol with ten rounds and about one pound of ganja from her handbag. She was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and with possession of and dealing in ganja, and was due in the Western Regional Gun Court on 26 June 2018.
A St Catherine parish court sentenced fisherman Gaffi Daley to a concurrent total of 16 months at hard labour and a J$800,000 fine or six months more after police stopped his car in Portmore with 490 pounds of compressed ganja on 3 June 2018. Police had described him as a major player in the drugs-for-guns trade.
Arrested 1Charged 1Cannabis 222.26 kgPrison 16 months at hard labour, concurrent
A 32-year-old Barbadian was held at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on 17 January 2017 when a check found about 6.3 pounds (2.86 kg) of ganja in his luggage as he checked in for a flight to Barbados. Police said he would be charged with possession, dealing and export-preparation offences.
