Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0198/01983.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 17KB | 269 lines

$Unique_ID{COW01983}
$Pretitle{233J}
$Title{Jamaica
Chapter 2E.   Narcotics Crime}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Rex A. Hudson, Daniel J. Seyler}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{court
jamaica
marijuana
states
united
jamaican
act
gun
resident
cases}
$Date{1987}
$Log{}
Country:     Jamaica
Book:        Caribbean Commonwealth, An Area Study: Jamaica
Author:      Rex A. Hudson, Daniel J. Seyler
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1987

Chapter 2E.   Narcotics Crime

     According to the New York Times, reporting on information from a United
States and British law enforcement conference held in Miami in July 1987, a
widespread Jamaican criminal organization consisting of about twenty gangs of
illegal aliens was operating in fifteen metropolitan areas in the United
States and trafficking in firearms and drugs between Florida and Jamaica. A
United States government official described the gangs as the fastest growing
and most violent of the criminal groups operating in the United States.
Between 400 and 500 homicides in the United States in the previous two years
were attributed to these self- described "posses." Seaga government officials
have stated publicly that many of the guns in Jamaica were flown in by
narcotics traffickers from Florida and other Gulf Coast locations and landed
on illegal airstrips or deserted roads.

     Marijuana production in Jamaica, especially western Jamaica, has
increased dramatically since the mid-1960s, even though production of the drug
has been illegal since 1913. As the major illicit drug activity on the island,
cannabis cultivation has been of particular concern to the Seaga government.
By the mid-1980s, an estimated 20 percent or less of the marijuana produced in
Jamaica was consumed locally; the rest was smuggled to other countries.
Jamaica was supplying an estimated 10 to 15 percent of the total amount of
marijuana smuggled into the United States each year. Marijuana traffickers
included members of every ethnic group in Jamaica, as well as "United States
citizens," according to the minister of public utilities and transport.
Moreover, the minister reported in late 1984 that more than 50 percent of the
people involved in marijuana also were involved in cocaine. Jamaica was
rapidly becoming a major cocaine transshipment point for Latin American
suppliers to the North American market.

     The Jamaican government has been firmly committed to reducing marijuana
cultivation. In 1972 a special JCF narcotics squad began combating the
increasing use and illegal export of drugs. After three police members were
killed and mutilated by marijuana growers in December 1983, the government
began cracking down harder on cultivators by stepping up eradication and
confiscation efforts. Although limited by a lack of equipment and other
resources, the thirty-three- member squad and JDF Eradication Units carried
out many successful operations against marijuana traffickers in the mid-1980s.
The security forces also have attempted to damage illegal air strips with
explosives (twenty-three damaged in 1986), but in many cases the traffickers
quickly rebuilt them.

     In the mid-1980s, the United States urged Jamaica to undertake large-
scale eradication using slash-and-burn methods and chemical weed killers, but
these proposals met with growing resistance in a country where marijuana is
referred to as "the poor man's friend." In May 1985, the Jamaican government
asked for increased United States assistance in combating drug production and
in assisting farmers to introduce alternative high-yield crops. Seaga also
announced in December 1986 that the country would begin herbicidal backpack
spraying in order to avoid jeopardizing United States economic aid to Jamaica.
The 1986 eradication figure of 2,756 hectares was a record, but that year
smugglers exported twice as much marijuana to the United States as normal. In
the mid- 1980s, the United States increased aid to Jamaica's narcotics
interdiction and eradication programs, earmarking more than US$2.6 million in
1986 for this purpose, as compared with US$45,000 in 1985.

     The narcotics squad has cooperated with United States law enforcement
officers. Jamaican authorities have alerted United States authorities about
vessels and small aircraft suspected of carrying narcotics directly from
Jamaica or in transit from Latin American countries. The United States Coast
Guard has stopped and searched those carriers whenever possible. Commercial
airlines flying between the United States and Jamaica incurred millions of
dollars in fines in the 1985-87 period as a result of substantial quantities
of marijuana being discovered aboard their aircraft.

     In 1986 a total of 4,123 persons, including 736 foreigners (608
Americans, 78 Canadians, and 50 Britons) were arrested for various breaches
under Jamaica's Dangerous Drugs Act. Measures used by the security forces to
reduce the extent of trafficking included roadblocks, surveillance of air and
sea craft, and use of trained dogs at international airports and sea
terminals.

The Criminal Justice System

     Jamaica's legal system, including much of the substantive and procedural
criminal law, derives from Britain's legal code. The relevant statutes are
those in force at the time of independence, including a number enacted by the
British Parliament in London and those subsequently enacted by the Jamaican
Parliament. As in all countries with roots in the English system, a body of
case law governs the interpretation and application of statutes; some issues
may be resolved by common law.

     The Jamaican Penal Code and the Prevention of Crime Law of 1963
established minimum penalties for certain crimes. Minor crimes are prosecuted
in the courts of petty session, headed by justices of the peace, who are also
called lay magistrates. The resident magistrate's courts and the Supreme Court
hear both civil and criminal cases (see Government and Politics, this ch.).
The more serious criminal cases usually are tried in the circuit courts of the
Supreme Court. All circuit court trials are jury trials; the jury is composed
of seven persons except for homicide cases, which require twelve jurors. A
majority of jurors may render verdicts, except in capital cases in which
unanimity is required. The resident magistrate's courts, petty sessions
courts, and the Gun Court hold trials without juries. Most trials, with the
exception of the Gun Court, are open to the public.

     The Gun Court was established on April 2, 1974, as a combination court
and prison to combat the increase in violent crimes involving firearms. It
operates as an extension of the Supreme Court and deals with crimes involving
guns. The Gun Court Act allowed detention and prosecution of subjects and
authorized a single resident magistrate's court to issue prison sentences to
those convicted of illegal possession of firearms or ammunition. In July 1975,
the Privy Council in London ruled that the Gun Court Act was constitutional.
The Privy Council held, however, that mandatory sentences of indefinite
detention with hard labor could not legally be imposed by the resident
magistrate presiding over the Gun Court. The 1983 Gun Court Amendment Act
enabled the resident magistrate's courts in all parishes except Kingston, St.
Andrew, and St. Catherine to decide whether a particular charge would be dealt
with in a resident magistrate's court or should be referred to the Gun Court.

     If the conviction occurs in a resident magistrate's court, the accused
party may often obtain bail while his case is being appealed. If the
conviction is in either a circuit court or the Gun Court, there is no bail
during appeal proceedings, except under certain special considerations.
Appeals to the Privy Council in London can take up to a year. No bail is
permitted in Gun Court cases even before conviction; all persons convicted
receive an indeterminate jail sentence of up to life, and release is given
only when these cases are reviewed by the Pri