Tinson Pen 7 remanded
THE seven men who were charged in connection with the alleged drug operation at the Tinson Pen Aerodrome in Kingston on July 13, were yesterday remanded in custody until August 5, when they are to appear in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court.
In addition to drug charges, Anton ‘B J’ Johnson, the suspected kingpin behind the operation, is facing charges of attempted murder, and breaches of the Civil Aviation Act.
The six others are facing charges of possession of, dealing in and conspiracy to export ganja. They are Vincent Speed, 40; Frederick Barrett, 23; 55 year-old Barrington Anderson; Curtis Menzie, 39; Michael Nembhard, 30 and 23 year-old Kirk Chambers.
The police also informed the court yesterday that a warrant was out for the arrest of an eighth suspect, Edward Wirthbroff.
Meanwhile, Johnson’s countrymen, Darrington Knowles and Carrington Brown, who were with him last Wednesday when police spirited them away from the Ritz-Carlton Rosehall Hotel in Montego Bay, have been released from police custody. Knowles and Brown were being investigated by the immigration police but an immigration official yesterday told the court that both men had not entered the country illegally. He said they had arrived on a private jet, on which they were both crew members, and were allowed to stay in the country as long as the jet was in the island.
Meanwhile, two policemen, a constable and a corporal from the South St Andrew division who have also been implicated in the incident, are yet to be charged as the Bureau of Special Investigations continues its probe into the incident.