Pubdate: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 Source: Jamaica Gleaner, The (Jamaica) Copyright: 2001 The Gleaner Company Limited Contact: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/493 Author: Erica Virtue Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) BIG FINE FOR BIG GANJA FIND - DRUGS FOUND ON TYRE SHIPMENT United States-based officials from Zim Container Services Limited are hopping mad. They are mad with the Jamaican Custom workers under whose guard 16,000 pounds of marijuana, stacked away in a Zim container turned up at a U.S. port from Jamaica. Zim Container Services was slapped with a $128 million (US$8 million) fine by United States Customs at Savannah, Georgia, early August. The shipping line which off-loaded a shipment of tyres from Japan, was detained in Georgia, coming directly from Jamaica. The ship reportedly spent several days in Jamaica while it was held in the secure area at Kingston Wharves before it returned to the U.S. It is alleged that it was during this time that the containers were contaminated. The Sunday Gleaner understands that local Port Authority representatives and Zim officials have been summoned to a meeting in the U.S. Last week, efforts to reach chairman of the Port Authority, Noel Hylton, was unsuccessful, as his office said he was out of office for the rest of the week. So too was Major Dave Anderson, who is in charge of security at the Ports. He was said to be attending a meeting in the U.S. It could not be ascertained if he was attending the same meeting with Zim and U.S. Customs officials. On Monday, Zim's local office manager, Patrick Burgess, said he could not comment much on the situation as he would be attending the meeting. But, he explained a breakdown of the charges. "Customs officials charged us US$500 per ounce for the drugs. It is 16 ounces that make a pound and 16,000 pounds so do the math," he said. The total amounted to US$8 million. Customs officials at Savannah, Georgia, declined to comment, and referred The Sunday Gleaner to Customs in Florida, the headquarters of U.S. Customs. No response was received from that office despite several efforts. A month ago, when Zim's local office was first contacted by The Sunday Gleaner, Mr. Burgess reluctantly said, "It would not be convenient for me to make a comment at this time." Does that mean you could give a comment at another time, he was asked. "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. I am not yet sure..." he said. However, he was not averse to confirming the charges. Sources tell The Sunday Gleaner that the frequent ganja finds on containers from Jamaica is causing much concern among shipping lines doing business here and some have expressed frustration with local authorities about their inability to prevent cargo contamination. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth