GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – A Jamaican man has been sentenced to 11 years in the Cayman Islands after he was fingered as the main player behind a failed attempt to smuggle 22 ounces of cocaine in a can of cheese in 2020.

Andre Caine, 35, a resident of Rock Hole in George Town, was arrested in April 2020.

According to media reports, court documents showed that during routine inspection on April 20, 2020 at the Owen Roberts International Airport in Cayman, Customs and Border Control (CBC) officers came across the can of cheese in the luggage of 30-year-old Odain Davis, who had arrived in the Cayman Islands on a flight from Kingston, Jamaica.

The officer became suspicious of the weight of the can of cheese, and following consultations with his colleagues, Davis and the cheese were taken to a CBC room.

While nothing suspicious was found after a search of Davis, the can of cheese was found to contain “a white substance wrapped in clear plastic resembling cocaine covered with a thin layer of cheese", the report said.

That substance was confirmed to be 22 ounces of cocaine.

When questioned, Davis told officers that he had carried the suitcase on the request of a friend he identified as Joseph Caine, who is also Jamaican. The latter was subsequently arrested.

Joseph, while being questioned, denied knowledge of the substance, and suggested that he asked Davis to bring the suitcase as a favour for his (Joseph's) cousin Andre Caine.

The latter, upon his arrest, also denied any knowledge of the substance contained in the tin of cheese.

The trio were subsequently charged.

They faced trial in the Grand Court in January this year, during which Andre Caine was found guilty of two counts of importation of a controlled drug.

His cousin, Joseph, and Davis were acquitted of the charges by the jury.

The report said that Caine was sentenced in May to 11 years, but it was reduced by 114 days due to the "time he spent in custody" and on wearing "an electronic monitor tag".