Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

Businessman Errol Lamey, the People's National Party (PNP) caretaker/ councillor, who was detained in connection with a drug bust earlier this week, was yesterday slapped with drug charges and is to face the Half-Way Tree Criminal Court today.

The 44-year-old Lamey, who underwent two days of intensive interrogation by detectives attached to the Narcotics Division, was charged with possession, dealing in, taking steps to export and conspiracy to export ganja. The drug was found concealed in a shipment of lumber.

"He was charged a short while ago," said Superintendent of Police Carlton Wilson, of the Narcotics Division when quizzed about Mr. Lamey's status yesterday. "He will face the courts in the morning."

Mr. Lamey, who is aspiring to represent the PNP at the local government level for the Mt. Salem Division, in St. James, was arrested shortly after 1:00 p.m. on Monday during a joint operation carried out by the St. James police and members of the Kingston Narcotics Division.

Well-known community leader

According to the allegations, Mr. Lamey, who is a well-known community leader in Mt. Salem, was arrested after a container with lumber he attempted to ship from Kingston Wharf to an unknown destination in the United Kingdom on June 13 was found to have 59.9 pounds of ganja stashed in it.

After the contraband was discovered, Mr. Lamey was put under surveillance by narcotics police, who tracked him to a construction site in the Iron Shore area of Montego Bay, where he was held and whisked away to Kingston, and later interrogated.

While PNP officials in St. James have been reluctant to discuss the matter and its implications for the party, less than five weeks before the August 27 general election, the news has hit very hard in Mt. Salem, where Mr. Lamey heads the community-based organisation - RELIEF (Restoring Enjoyable Living in Each Family), which is quite active in community life.

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com