By Paul A. Reid, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE MONTEGO Bay police have put an estimate of just over $2 million on a quantity of ganja and hash oil seized in a raid on a property in Salt Spring in February.
According to the certificate from the government forensic laboratory that was tendered in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday, 198lbs 6.48 ounces of ganja was recovered while the hash oil weighed 78lbs 14.7 ounces.
At a street value of between $3,000 and $5,000 per lb the ganja is valued at between $594,000 and $999,000.
Hash oil, a derivative of ganja that has a street value of between $10,000 and $15,000 per pound depending on the quality and the market, could be worth nearly $1.2 million The estimates were made by the Constabulary Communications Network (CCN).
Allan Chin, a music selector was arrested in connection with the find and charged with possession, dealing and taking steps to export ganja and is also facing charges in the Western Regional Gun Court after an AK47 assault rifle and a Glock 26 handgun and nearly 100 rounds of assorted ammunition were also discovered.
Chin had told the court however that he did not live at the premises where the drugs and weapons were found but worked with the owner whom he named as Richard Bowen. Chin who first appeared before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's court on February 26, said he last saw Bowen at the house the day before he was arrested and said he did not have access to the house as he was never given keys to the doors.
He was arrested after police went to the premises in the early afternoon and carried out a search when the ganja and what was described by police as the largest ammunition find of the year was discovered.
The police found the AK47, the Glock, ammunition, a bullet-proof vest and army fatigues.
Eleven large garbage bags of loose and compressed ganja were found along with two five-gallon buckets and a one-gallon jug of hash oil.
