Clive Roy Davis, the 57-year-old who was among five men held in August in what the police say was the largest drug bust in Jamaica, was on Monday denied bail by a Supreme Court judge on the basis that he is a high flight risk.

Justice Leighton Pusey, who presided over the bail application hearing, based his decision on indications from the Crown that Davis was recently deported and the State’s concerns over a spotty immigration record.

According to prosecutors, Davis admitted to the police, under caution, that he had been deported to Jamaica six months before. Prosecutors further indicated that there was no record of the accused returning to the island via any legal port of entry after he left Jamaica in 2016.

Justice Pusey, in denying him bail, said the conclusion was that Davis — having used informal immigration means before — could do so again.

Davis was therefore remanded until a plea and case management hearing set for the January 14 next year.

Lead defence attorney Donahue Martin, speaking briefly to the Jamaica Observer, said, “We are exploring options in relation to the refusal of bail.”

Davis, Junior Aldayne, Collin Ricketts, George Sterling and 42-year-old Clayton Peart, all of Kingston addresses, were officially charged on Friday, August 16 with possession of cocaine, dealing in cocaine, trafficking cocaine, and conspiracy. Outside of Davis, two of the other four accused men were granted bail in a previous bail application while the other two were denied bail.

Their arrests came after a raid, executed at 2 Riverside Drive, Kingston 19, on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 by members of the Firearms and Narcotics Division within the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Branch, which resulted in the seizure of the cocaine. During the operation, a Toyota Hiace motor vehicle and a two-storey concrete dwelling were searched. The police said during the search they discovered several knitted bags containing packages with the white powdery substance. The drugs weighed 2,526 kilogrammes and had an estimated street value of just over US$75 million.

— Alicia Dunkley-Willis