POLICE last night seized 7,650 pounds of compressed ganja at 18 Bay Farm Road, a tough community in Kingston, the Jamaican capital.

A spokesman for Operation Kingfish estimated the street value of the illegal drug at J$30.6 million on the Jamaican market, but said that the weed would fetch US$22.95 million in the United States.

Yesterday’s find by Operation Kingfish and narcotics agents came on the heels of Tuesday’s seizure of 5,890 pounds of ganja in eastern Kingston by narcotics agents and members of the military.

Police believe that the ganja, packed away in 170 boxes, was being readied for export.

One man, said to be the brother of the occupant of the house, was detained in connection with the seizure, which the police said last night was one of the largest in the history of the Jamaican constabulary.

The police said the occupant and some of his cronies fled the scene shortly before heavily armed police, accompanied by soldiers, arrived at the scene.

The police said a quantity of pharmaceutical items, including Viagra, the drug used by men who suffer from erectile dysfunction, were also found at the premises during the police raid.

“We executed an intelligence-led operation at about 6 o’clock this evening and discovered this huge amount of marijuana. It is part of our crackdown in trying to put a plug on the drug trade,” Senior Superintendent Carlton Williams told the Observer, while cops from the Narcotics Division were packing away the seized weed.

“Investigations will be continuing and we intend to detain more persons,” Williams told the Observer.

Police believe both ganja busts this week were connected with the drug-for-guns trade between Jamaica and Haiti, but detectives said they have put a dent in that operation.

Detective Inspector Steve Brown, the spokesman for the Operation Kingfish taskforce, said the police have been monitoring the “notorious ganja parishes” over the past few weeks, and that last night’s seizure was a result of the intelligence gathered.

Last night, residents of Bay Farm Road claimed that they were unaware of any illegal drug operation in their community.