By Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporter 
Forbes
WHILE NOT going as far as Superintendent Newton Amos did last year when he declared Montego Bay a 'drug den', Police Commissioner Francis Forbes is nonetheless expressing the view that the western city is a place where there is significant drug activity.
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner in Montego Bay on Friday, Commissioner Forbes said, "I will not 'broad brush' the entire city as there are a lot of decent persons living here."
However, he said "There was still plenty of work to be done here in the fight against drugs... The dice is still rolling and we expect a lot of arrests to be made."
He did not disclose how many persons had been targeted in the operation, nut the Commissioner promised that more arrests would be coming soon: "I won't identify from whence they come but a lot of Jamaicans are being targeted."
Last year, Superintendent Amos, then commanding officer of the St. James police, earned the wrath of some members of the parish's business community when he declared Montego Bay a 'drug den', where high profile drug dealers operated in total defiance of the law.
However, within recent months, Superintendent Amos' statement has come back to haunt his detractor as Montego Bay is now under the local and international spotlight following the arrest of several high profile businessmen, who have been accused of playing leading roles in the international narcotics trade.
In light of the recent drug sting in Montego Bay, a number of suspected drug smugglers have reportedly gone underground and are said to be frantically taking steps to transfer their assets into the names of family members and other associates. That revelation has not gone unnoticed by the police, who according to Commissioner Forbes, are aware of what is happening and are poised to take the necessary steps at the appropriate time.
"People are obviously on the run, they are hiding the pretty vehicles now, some of them in some very unique places," Commissioner Forbes said. " I have said it publicly before and I will say it again wherever they put the vehicles we watch them, we know, and as soon as we are ready for them, we will go and fetch them."
The crackdown, which police sources had been promising for a long time, started on the morning of March 2, when local and international agents swooped down on Montego Bay and arrested prominent businessmen Leebert Ramcharan, the owner of the Caribbean Showplace; and garage owner Donovan Williams. Both men are now facing extradition to the United States to face drug smuggling and money-laundering charges.
Following the arrest of Ramcharan and Williams, the police conducted searches at several homes and properties owned by both men. A number of expensive vehicles and documents were seized. Their assets were ordered seized when they made their first court appearance. The British authorities are reportedly interested in Mr. Ramcharan, whose brother is now in a British jail facing money-laundering charges.
On April 20, the narcotics agent made another sweep in Montego Bay, this time arresting popular sound system operator Robroy 'Spy' Williams, garage operator Vivian Dalley and four Colombians nationals. They too were hastily flown out of Montego Bay in a Jamaica Defence Force helicopter and are now in detention in Kingston.
