THE Jamaican narcotics police said yesterday that they would be stepping up their activities against drug smugglers at the island’s airports after United States Customs and Border Patrol agents intercepted a shipment of cocaine and marijuana aboard an Air Jamaica flight at the Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday night.

The cocaine was wrapped in four packages and weighed about 4.45 pounds, while the ganja was also wrapped in four packages and weighed a little less than five pounds.

US authorities said the cocaine carried a street value of US$40,000 (J$2.8 million) while the ganja was valued at US$4,000 (J$280,000).

The drugs were found stashed in a sliding drawer of an unused service cart at the rear of the aircraft. The flight originated in Kingston and stopped in Montego Bay before landing in Philadelphia.

Last night, Customs and Border Patrol public affairs officer for the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania, Steve Sapp, praised the Air Jamaica staff for tipping off customs agents.

“The Air Jamaica staff did a phenomenal job,” Sapp told the Observer. “They showed concern for the passengers and alerted the authorities as soon as they landed. It has been an awfully long time that we have seen narcotics being smuggled aboard commercial aircraft or passenger planes.”

Sapp said the matter had been turned over to immigration and customs authorities who have decided not to pursue any further investigations into the matter.

The drugs will be destroyed.

Narcotics officers accused workers at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston of using the cover of the current multimillion-dollar refurbishing work at the airport to smuggle drugs through the facility.

Last week, about 60 pounds of ganja was found inside a bathroom at the airport.

“We know that unscrupulous persons who are employed at the airport are trying to exploit the system, but we will be on the ball. The reputation of the country and the national airline is at stake,” an officer based at the Narcotics Division told the Observer last night.

Since the introduction of sophisticated Ionscan machines at both Norman Manley and Montego Bay’s Sangster International airport, there has been a significant drop in illicit drugs being smuggled out on commercial flights as the machines usually detect the contraband, whether it is hidden in luggage or ingested by drug mules.