A man held in connection with last November’s large arms find at the Kingston Wharves, which the police said was destined for the Spanish Town-based Clansman gang, was granted in the sum of $500,000 Monday and will return to court on March when the case will again be mentioned.

The accused, Donovan Taylor, 47, of 63 Balcombe Avenue, Waterhouse, Kingston 11, was also ordered by Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle to surrender his travel documents and report to the Olympic Gardens Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between the hours of 6:00 am and 6:00 pm as a condition of his bail.

Taylor is facing charges of conspiracy to deceive, attempt to obtain, possession of forged documents, uttering forged documents and conspiracy with intent to import firearms and ammunitions. His arrest followed the discovery of 20 firearms, including AK47 and M16 rifles and several pistols, and assorted ammunitions and bullet-proof vests at the Kingston Wharves on November 8, 2005.

Taylor was granted bail after Gayle found that there was insufficient evidence to support the prosecution’s claim that on the day the weapons arrived Taylor conspired with an unidentified man to clear them.

According to court documents, acting on leads members of the Organised Crime Investigation Division, the Contraband Enforcement Team and other Law Enforcement Agencies conducted an operation at Berth 6 of Kingston Wharves between midday on November 7, 2005 and 6:30 pm on November 8, 2005, where two crates shipped to Jamaica from Miami were intercepted.

After being x-rayed two hidden compartments were found at the bottom of each crate and the guns and ammunition allegedly found in the hidden compartments.

Investigations said that on November 8, 2005 at approximately 8:45 am Taylor was seen assisting a man with the processing of documentation associated with the two crates. After completion of the processing Taylor took the documents from the man, who signed them under the name of James Falconer, and handed them to the security officer at the Berth 6 Warehouse in order to obtain and clear the crates. Further investigations proved that the name James Falconer did not match the passport number listed on the documents, and also that no one by that name lived at the address listed on the documents. This man is being sought by the police.

Taylor was arrested at his home on January 8, 2006 and formal charges laid on him on January 18, 2006 following separate police interviews.

Taylor’s attorney, Berry Bryan, maintained in his bail application that his client was of impeccable character and that the only relationship between the unidentified man and Taylor was that he helped him to process the documentation.