Jamaica’s narcotics police chief yesterday expressed anger at Tuesday’s decision by a magistrate to free nine persons in a drug trafficking case, describing it as a triumph for drug runners.

“I am here wallowing in my disappointment,” Superintendent Carl Williams told the Observer. “This is a victory for the drug trafficking community.”

The nine persons – two of them cops – were released after the magistrate agreed with defence lawyers that prosecutors made errors in the indictment process and failed to provide enough evidence against the accused:

. Vincent Speed, 40;

. Curtis Mendez, 39;

. Frederick Barnett, 42;

. Barrington Anderson, 56;

. Kirk Chambers, 23; and

. Michael Nembhard, 30, all security guards, along with:

. Anton Johnson, a Bahamian whom police suspect to be a drug kingpin, were charged with breaches of the Dangerous Drugs Act after police foiled a suspected drug operation at the Tinson Pen Aerodrome in Kingston in July last year.

Two policemen – a corporal and a constable whom the police never named – were charged with conspiracy in the incident.

The Narcotics Police, obviously acting on information, said they were staking out a drug operation and saw persons loading packages onto a Piper Navajo aircraft at the aerodrome in the early morning hours of July 13. When they attempted to apprehend the suspects, shots were fired at them, allegedly by the two policemen, allowing the men to jump on the plane and escape.

A police service vehicle, which was assigned to the two cops, was found abandoned at the aerodrome after the raid.

During an exchange of gunfire, police bullets pierced the aircraft’s fuselage and Williams was reported to be have been injured in the incident when he took evasive action to avoid being shot.

About five hours later, the plane returned to the aerodrome and the suspects were reported to have left in motor vehicles. The aircraft was seized by the police and taken to the Norman Manley International Airport.

On July 16, Johnson, who was allegedly the pilot of the plane used in the incident, was arrested at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay and slapped with drug and aviation charges.

When the case came up in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, magistrate Kissock Laing upheld the defence’s argument that the prosecution had erred by outlining the allegations against the accused persons to the court before asking the court to serve indictments against them.

The prosecution’s case also hit a snag because no forensic certificate was provided to prove that the men were indeed trafficking in a banned substance. The defence also contended that no statement, either by the accused persons or independent witnesses, was presented to suggest that a drug operation was being carried out.

The technical errors forced the magistrate to throw out the case against the men, a decision that infuriated Superintendent Williams.

“The least they could have done was to listen to us,” he said yesterday. “We risked our lives.”

Although Johnson no longer has to face the drug charges, he has to return to court on January 20 to answer a charge of flying an aircraft without a licence.

In a court appearance last August, a charge of attempted murder against him was adjourned as the prosecution conceded that they did not have enough evidence to make a solid case.

The owners of the Piper Navajo aircraft used in the incident, Whirlwind Aviation Limited, will also have to return to court on January 20 when the court will hear an application by their attorney, Peter Champagnie, for the return of the plane.