921 kg of marijuana found in frozen-chicken container at Point Lisas
Customs and police officers searching the Port of Point Lisas on the evening of 15 September 2011 found 38 bags holding more than 921 kg of compressed marijuana hidden among frozen chicken parts in a 40-foot container. Customs valued the haul at TT$7.4 million while a police release quoted TT$30 million, and a central Trinidad businessman assigned the container was assisting inquiries.
🇹🇹 Port of Point Lisas, Couva, Trinidad · Trinidad and Tobago
Cannabis
921 kg
Agencies
Customs and Excise Division, Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
Officers of the Customs and Excise Department, the Plipdeco port police, the Criminal Intelligence Unit, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau searched the Port of Point Lisas from about 5.55 pm on Thursday 15 September 2011.[1]The search team, led by Superintendent Johnny Abraham and Assistant Superintendent Corbette with Couva police support, opened a 40-foot container said to hold frozen chicken parts and found 38 bags of compressed marijuana weighing more than 921 kilos.[1][2]
Customs communications manager Alicia Charles said the haul had a street value of $7.4 million, calculated at about $8,000 a kilo, while a Police Service release late the next day quoted $30 million as confirmed by a narcotics expert.[1][2]Charles said the seizure was part of an ongoing joint operation between the Customs and Excise Division and Point Lisas port security that began at the start of the year, under which containers fitting a particular profile were singled out for inspection.[1]A prominent businessman of central Trinidad, to whom the container had been assigned, was assisting police with inquiries, and sources said it was not the first container of drugs assigned to him seized by law enforcers.[1]The seizure was the fourth major drug bust at the port within six months.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Cannabis
921 kg
Value (official estimate)
TTD 7,400,000
Agencies
Customs and Excise Division; Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
Customs valued the haul at TT$7.4 million, about TT$8,000 a kilo, while a police release quoted TT$30 million; the report uses the Customs figure.
No arrests were reported; a prominent central Trinidad businessman to whom the container was assigned was assisting police with inquiries.
The Guardian describes the marijuana as believed brought from the United States while the Newsday account points to Jamaica; the report states no origin.
Earlier 2011 Point Lisas container busts, including a March seizure, are separate events left out here.
The news blog carries a marijuana illustration that could not be tied to this seizure, so no event photo is shown.
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