POLICE assigned to the Old Harbour Marine Division on Wednesday seized a 35-foot fibreglass boat in Portland Bight, Clarendon, while on a routine patrol of the area.

Wilbert Walker, deputy superintendent at the Marine Police Division, said about 3:00 pm officers on patrol saw what appeared to be an abandoned boat. On further investigation they discovered that the vessel contained several drums containing petrol.

“The marine personnel found nineteen 55-gallon drums of petrol, three 15-gallon drums, also containing petrol, along with two batteries,” DSP Walker told the Jamaica Observer.

The senior police officer said that he suspects that the boat was being prepared to transport criminals.

“Looking at the content in the boat, it was definitely going to be used in the guns-for-drug trade. Nineteen 55-gallons drums of petrol is suspicious; a normal fishing boat would carry just about one 55-gallon drum [with petrol]. Why would you have 19 containers of petrol?” Walker questioned.

He added that the vessel not only had enough petrol to afford occupants a round-trip to Puerto Rico and back, but was also outfitted with two 200-HP Yamaha engines, which he said further supported speculation that it was to be used in the guns-for-drugs trade.

“Only if you going to travel far distances you need the quantity of petrol and we are fully aware of the purpose of these longer trips, so we are grateful that we could have prevented another transaction of this kind,” said Walker.

The seizure of the boat on Wednesday brings to five the number of such vessels that have been seized by the police since the start of 2016. However, another four were seized for breaches of the Fisheries Act.

The police say no arrests were made in connection with Wednesday’s seizure.