KINGSTON, Jamaica – Bert Samuels, the prominent attorney-at-law representing dancehall artiste Popcaan, has come out swinging at the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) after allegations of a drug-related conviction of the ‘Unruly Boss’ in Barbados were introduced into the public sphere by the police on Wednesday.

Samuels has instructed his team to file a libel lawsuit against the JCF in the Supreme Court at 1 pm Thursday.

“I am going ahead with the lawsuit, we will be filing the libel suit,” the attorney-at-law told OBSERVER ONLINE.

The libel suit revolves around a marijuana conviction and cocaine arrest of Popcaan, whose real name is Andre Sutherland, in the eastern Caribbean island.

A release issued by the JCF on Wednesday alleged that the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) had issued a green notice alerting authorities to the drugs-related conviction, and this may have led to immigration issues faced by the Jamaican dancehall artiste in the United Kingdom.

The JCF confirmed that Sutherland was convicted in 2009 in Barbados for possession of marijuana and subsequently deported to Jamaica. He was again arrested in Barbados in 2011 for possession of cocaine, the JCF claimed.

Samuels called the allegations an “entire falsehood” concocted by the Jamaica Constabulary Force to “push back against allegations that the Jamaican government had put a red flag against Popcaan’s name”.

The JCF release explained that “arising from those arrests and other intelligence gathered, a Green Notice was generated by Interpol in relation to him in 2015”.

“The Notice was then reconfirmed by Interpol in 2018. A Green Notice provides Interpol members with a warning about a traveler’s potential criminal activities, where the person may be considered a threat to public safety,” a release from the JCF said.

Sutherland has had numerous run-ins with the law since he shot to fame as a member of Vybz Kartel’s Portmore Empire in the late 2000’s.

In 2010, the Unruly Boss was arrested by the Bahamian police along with two members of the Portmore Empire after an altercation at the Lynden Pindling International Airport.

Sutherland was convicted of marijuana possession in Jamaica in 2011.

In February 2016, he was fined for assaulting a police officer at the Norman Manley International Airport in 2013. His lawyer, Bert Samuels, had asked that the charge not be added to his client’s permanent record or it may affect his ability to travel.

In May 2016, he was fined EC$1,000 or six months in prison on each of the two offences with which he was charged following a tussle with a policeman at a stage show in Antigua.

In November last year, he was fined a total of $10,000 after pleading guilty to several road traffic violations in Jamaica.