From sealed cans labeled orange juice, milk and pet food to suitcase handles and even a wedding dress, drug traffickers found ingenious ways to conceal 605 kilos of cocaine which the Drug Squad and the Special Security Unit (SSU) destroyed at the Rabacca Dry River last Wednesday.

The drugs, with a street value of EC $360 million, were ripped open from their tightly wrapped plastic packages that had cartel brands of birds, sharks, elephants, lions, anchors, butterflies and X marks on them.{{more}}

From 11am to around 2:35 pm the police endured the heat of the sun and unraveled every box, bag and even small oval pellets which are usually swallowed or shoved into various body orifices.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Michael Charles said that different cartels use different logos to distinguish themselves and that the 605 kilos of cocaine had been collected over time since 2000 and also included the 250 kilos (654 pounds) of cocaine found recently hidden in bushes between Mt Wynne and Bambareux on the Leeward side of St. Vincent.



ASP Charles said that the police now felt a sense of ease since the drugs had been hidden at a secret location in Kingstown which had to be heavily guarded around the clock. The head of the Drug Unit was however most relieved that the cocaine did not end up on the streets of this country. He explained, “This amount of cocaine on the local market would have given us a lot of problems. Not only would there have been social issues to deal with, but this would have destroyed especially our youth mentally and physically.”

ASP Charles pointed out that this country has a number of uninhabited islands which become drop off points and rest stops for drug traffickers and said that this issue would be tackled.

Meanwhile, Acting Commissioner of Police Bertie Pompey declared the destruction of the cocaine a success and rebuked drug traffickers, “Drugs are dangerous and I want to see that all the drugs coming into this country are consumed by flames instead of human beings. Let this be a warning to drug pushers, I will not go into details but we are now more vigilant and things are in place for more efficient drug busts,” he emphasized.

The last burning of drugs by the police occurred almost one year ago.

Police Chaplin Emelius Barnwell and Commanding Officer of the Eastern Division, ASP Brinsley Ballantyne as well as members of the legal fraternity were also present at the burning of the illegal substance.