TCI pilot fined $275,307 over 18 lb of ganja at Kingston airport
A 35-year-old Turks and Caicos pilot was arrested at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on 23 April 2023 after 18 pounds of ganja were found in his luggage and bailed at $2 million. He pleaded guilty on 1 November 2024 and was fined $275,307, with the conspiracy and dealing charges dismissed and no prison term.
🇯🇲 Norman Manley International Airport, Kingston · Jamaica
Kenado Thomas, a 35-year-old Turks and Caicos pilot from South Caicos, was
arrested by local police on 23 April 2023 at Norman Manley International Airport
in Kingston when packages reportedly totalling 18 pounds of marijuana were found
in his luggage as he prepared to depart on an interCaribbean Airways flight.[1]He was granted bail in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in the sum
of $2 million Jamaican dollars (about $12,900 US dollars), with up to two
sureties.[2]He was charged with possession, dealing in, conspiracy to export
and attempting to export marijuana, and was ordered to surrender his travel
documents and remain in Jamaica while his case was set to return to court on 12
June 2023.[1]
On 1 November 2024, now 37, Thomas pleaded guilty in the Kingston and St Andrew
Parish Court and was fined $15,000 for possession of ganja and $260,307 for
attempting to export ganja, a total of $275,307, with no prison term imposed.[3]The charges of conspiracy to export ganja and dealing in ganja were
dismissed.[3]
Photos and video
Photo of Kenado Thomas at his bail hearing, published as the lead image of the Magnetic Media report on his case.Photo details
The Magnetic Media page reports the bail as set at $2 million Jamaican dollars, or $12,900 US dollars, but the Jamaican outlets describe only the $2 million figure; no separate court record of the conversion was published.
Magnetic Media gives the next court date as June 2023 and says Thomas remained in Jamaica having surrendered his travel documents; the Observer gives it as 12 June 2023, and no account of that June sitting was found.
The Gleaner's report gives the total fine as $275,307 from the two components; the Radio Jamaica headline rounds it to $275,000.
Agash Wade was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $215,000 after police found 25 pounds of ganja at his premises in De la Vega City, Spanish Town. The St Catherine Parish Court ordered the terms to run consecutively until the fines are paid, after the prosecution dropped a concealment charge.
The St James Parish Court fined 76-year-old Washington Hylton $17,000 after eight ounces of ganja were found in his luggage at Sangster International Airport as he prepared to leave for London. He pleaded guilty to possession and attempting to export the cannabis.
Jamaican police arrested two men and a woman during a six-hour series of raids in Highlight View and Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, seizing marijuana worth about $500,000 and what they called an assortment of offensive weapons. The operation targeted suspected extortionists and gang members in the illicit drugs-for-guns trade.
Dalton Fang pleaded guilty to possession after officers found about one ounce of ganja hidden inside dumplings he brought to the Montego Bay police lock-up. The St James Parish Court fined him $5,000, with 10 days in jail as the alternative.
