Nearly $13 million cash, expensive liquor seized in raid

THREE men believed to be major players in the multi-million dollar illegal cigarette trade were yesterday arrested during a raid in the upscale Beverly Hills community in Kingston.

More than 56 cases of assorted cigarettes, which the Customs Department valued at $12.9 million, millions of dollars in local and foreign currency, as well as several cases of expensive liquor were seized in the raid carried out by the police's Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID) and the Customs Enforcement team at 9 Shenstone Drive.

Fake brands of roll-on deodorants were also seized."Cash in British, Canadian, Jamaican and US currencies, totalling approximately J$15 million has been counted thus far by the investigators," head of OCID, Superintendent Fitz Bailey told the Observer.

Bailey said the brands of cigarettes seized were Newport, More, Rothmans, Matterhorn, Marlboro, Craven 'A', Benson & Hedges and Kool, while the liquor included Henessey, Moet Cheandon, Grey Goose, Baileys, Absolut and Hipnotiq.

"It is still very early in the investigation, but we believe that the men are key players in a cigarette racket," Bailey said.

Late yesterday evening, premises in downtown Kingston were being searched as part of the police investigation into the Beverley Hills raid, the police said.

Carreras, the sole legal distributor of Craven A cigarettes in Jamaica, said last week that $300 million worth of illicit Craven As were discovered in the country.

This week, the Sunday Observer reported local authorities as saying that organised criminal gangs and drug dealers are behind the growing multimillion-dollar trade in illicit cigarettes here.

According to the authorities, the drug lords' transition from cocaine and other hard drugs is driven by their desire to avoid the harsh penalties associated with narcotics trafficking, even though breaches of the Trade Marks Act can attract huge fines and prison time.