MANCHESTER, Jamaica — A farmer who was wanted by police on cocaine charges for over a year before surrendering was offered bail in the Manchester Parish Court on Wednesday.

Forty-eight-year-old George McKenzie had been on the police wanted list since the 19th of June 2024, when he was allegedly found with cocaine.

Prosecutors allege that on that date, McKenzie was intercepted by the police during an operation in Middle Quarters, St Elizabeth, while driving a Honda motor vehicle.

During the search of the vehicle, cocaine of an estimated street value of $1 million was reportedly found in a secret compartment.

It is alleged that during the search, McKenzie fled the scene and had been on the police wanted list for arrest since then.

In July of this year, McKenzie surrendered himself to the police.

In making the application for bail, his lawyers, Kings Council Peter Champagnie and Patrice Riley, argued that McKenzie had been put in fear, and that the vehicle in question had been recently loaned to someone.

He was offered bail in the sum of $1 million, with strict reporting conditions to the police.