THREE men were sent to prison Tuesday for trying to export ganja from Jamaica to Barbados, highlighting what narcotics police say is a growing trend to attempt smuggling drugs from here to the Eastern Caribbean.

“Because we have cut off their means of sending drugs to the UK and America, the smugglers have stepped up their efforts to export drugs to the Eastern Caribbean,” head of the Narcotics Division, Senior Superintendent Carl Williams, told the Observer yesterday.

“The market is very attractive over there for ganja,” Williams added.

The three men jailed on Tuesday after appearing in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court are Barbadian Dave Arthur, 27, and Jamaicans Devon Williams, 36 and Ian Baxter, 32.

Arthur was sentenced to 18 months at hard labour after he pleaded guilty to possession of, dealing in and attempting to export ganja weighing 12.5 pounds. Arthur was held on January 17 at the Norman Manley International Airport as he was about to board a BWIA flight to Barbados.

A transparent plastic bag containing the herb was found in his luggage. He was also fined $15,000 or six months for possession, $95,000 or six months for attempting to export ganja, and was admonished and discharged on the charge of dealing in ganja.

The 18-month sentence is mandatory and if the fines are not paid, Arthur will spend an additional year in prison.

Williams and Baxter were held the following day with eight and nine pounds of the banned substance respectively. In Williams’ case, the drug was found strapped to his legs and abdomen.

Williams, an unemployed chef of a Campden Crescent address, was fined $14,400 or six months for possession, admonished and discharged on the charge of dealing in the drug, and fined $72,000 or 12 months for attempting to export ganja. He was given a mandatory sentence of one year.

Baxter, who was described as a struggling deejay by attorney Earl Wright who represented both men, was fined $12,800 for possession, admonished and discharged on the charge of dealing in ganja and fined $164,000 or six months for attempting to export ganja. He was also ordered to serve one year.

Both men pleaded guilty to the charges.

Meanwhile, British national, 41 year-old Clive Martin, was also sentenced on Tuesday to three years at hard labour for attempting to smuggle cocaine to England.

Martin told the court that he was a sociology student at Handsworth University in London and that he attempted to carry cocaine to his homeland because he wanted money to pay his tuition fee. He was held by police at the Norman Manley International Airport on January 15 this year when he attempted to board a British Airways flight to London.

After he was questioned by the police, he was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he expelled 114 pellets of cocaine weighing just over one pound.

Attorney Leroy Equiano represented Martin and pleaded with the court for leniency. This did not prevent the court from fining Martin $250,000 or six months for possession of cocaine and $250,000 or six months for attempting to export the substance. He was also admonished and discharged on the charge of dealing in cocaine.

Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle presided over the matters.