A pilot who was held with 18 pounds of ganja last year at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston pleaded guilty and was fined J$275,307 in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Friday.

Kenado Thomas, 37, a Turks and Caicos Island citizen, who at the time of the incident was employed by a well-known airline, was charged after parcels of ganja were found in his suitcase while he attempted to board the airplane he was scheduled to fly on April 23, 2023.

Thomas was fined $15,000 for possession of ganja and $260,307 for attempting to export ganja after his attorneys-at-law, King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie and Samoi Campbell, urged the court for leniency on his behalf.

The charges of conspiracy to export ganja and dealing in ganja were dismissed.

Thomas had been on $2 million bail since last year when his attorneys successfully convinced the court he was not a flight risk despite his occupation.

Allegations were that Thomas checked on a blue suitcase which was x-rayed at the baggage check area. Anomalies were reportedly detected, and he was alerted. Police searched the suitcase in his presence and found the drugs. He was subsequently arrested.