400 lb of ganja found hidden in Jacuzzis bound for St Lucia
Narcotics police at the Port of Kingston found 119 packets of compressed ganja weighing more than 400 lb hidden in the bases of five Jacuzzis bound for St Lucia on 20 November 2007, the third such Jacuzzi seizure in three months.
Police carrying out a routine narcotics check at the Port of Kingston on Tuesday 20 November 2007 opened five luxury Jacuzzis and found 119 packets of compressed ganja weighing more than 400 lb (about 181 kg) attached to their bases.[1]The five tubs were destined for St Lucia, and the find was the narcotics police’s third seizure of ganja hidden in Jacuzzis in as many months.[1]
In August, officers in Kingston had found 43.7 lb of ganja fixed to two Jacuzzis headed for Trinidad and Tobago, and in October Montego Bay police seized three Jacuzzis holding 196 lb at the Sangster International Airport in a shipment bound for Antigua.[1]The head of the Narcotics Division, Senior Superintendent Carlton Wilson, called the Jacuzzi method a new trend, with traffickers seeking new ways to move drugs out ahead of Christmas.[1]
Wilson said marijuana fetched US$4,000 a kilogram in the Eastern Caribbean; the Gleaner calculated the latest haul, for which the police gave no value, at more than J$51 million.[1]No one had been arrested, though Wilson said investigations were well advanced and arrests were expected.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
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.
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 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.
