Friday, July 21, 2006

ROAD TOWN, BVI: Customs officials from the British Virgin Islands and its K-9 team recently assisted members of the police and customs department in Anguilla in the seizure of hundreds of pounds of marijuana that were found in a container.

The customs officials from the BVI and its K-9 team were flown into Anguilla to provide extra staff to assist with the search.

A container in the customs pound containing barrels of partially treated animal skins was opened and searches underneath the putrid smelling skins revealed that dozens of the barrels contained numerous packages of compressed cannabis, and officers recovered over 140 such packages.

The total weight has not yet been confirmed but police say it is many hundreds of pounds and was believed destined for the streets of Anguilla, not just in transit.

Police believe that this cannabis was to fill the void caused by recent activities of the Drug and Gun Task force, which has led to the discovery of over 1,000 plants in over 20 separate plantations in Anguilla in the last few weeks.

With high street values of over US$1,500 a pound, the find could well be the largest ever of cannabis in Anguilla. Police at once launched an investigation into both the Drugs importation and for the first time in Anguilla, the criminal proceeds of the offenders.

Anguilla’s Superintendent of Police Rudolph Proctor said they need to be clear that this kind of crime will not be tolerated on the island and that those guilty of such matters can expect to be punished by imprisonment and loss of their assets.

Anguilla’s police say a large team of CID, Police financial investigators and task force officers executed a warrant at a Rey Hill house and a 47 year old man was arrested and is currently in police custody while enquiries continue.

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