MONTEGO BAY, St James – A Kingston barber who pleaded guilty to trying to export 8.5 pounds of ganja to Holland on Thursday night was sentenced to nine months in prison and fined over $108,000 when he appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

When asked by Resident Magistrate Wilson Smith if he had anything to say for himself, the barber, Kevin McLeod, 24, of Kingston 11, said he was “trying a thing as he did not have anyone to give him anything”.

McLeod was getting ready to board a MartinAir flight to Amsterdam on Thursday night when sniffer dogs alerted handlers to his bag.

When the bag was searched in his presence, police found four packages with 8.5 pounds of ganja in a secret compartment. He was arrested and charged.

He was fined $13,600 or six months for possession of ganja, $27,200 or six months for dealing in ganja and a further $68,000 or six months for taking steps to export ganja.

He will also serve a mandatory nine months on the charge of attempting to export ganja.