SPANISH TOWN, St Catherine – Three Ocho Rios men who were arrested in Spanish Town for unlawful possession of 500 pounds of beef early Tuesday morning were denied bail when they appeared in the Spanish Town criminal court later that day.

They were remanded in custody until Monday, July 2, when the case will again be mentioned.

The three – Marlon Williams, Ruel Humphrey and Leroy Sawers – were arrested at approximately 7:00 am along the Spanish Town by-pass after police stopped the white Toyota Corolla station wagon which was being driven by Williams and appeared to be carrying only one passenger.

But the police told the court that the vehicle appeared overloaded as it was leaning to the right.

“We saw something covered up in the back of the car. When we moved the covering, we saw a man lying on top of about 400 to 500 pounds of meat which appeared to be the carcasses of about five cows… it was not cleaned up because it was still in the skin and blood was coming from it,” the arresting officer said.

According to the officer, the men could not give a proper account of how they got the meat. All three were arrested and charged for unlawful possession of the carcasses. Williams was slapped with additional charges of driving without a licence or an insurance certificate.

In his defence, he told the court that he saw a man at a bus stop in Ocho Rios who chartered his car for $8,000 to take the carcasses to Three Miles in Kingston.

“An since me nah work an me no dey pon nothing, your honour, me tek the little work but a don’t know de man, your honour,” he pleaded.

He pleaded guilty to the driver’s licence charge and was fined $10,000 or six months’ imprisonment and was disqualified from obtaining a licence for 12 months. He was also fined $8,000 or six months’ imprisonment for having no insurance certificate.