Black Immigrant Daily News

National senior record holder O’Dayne Richards secured Jamaica’s first medal at the fourth North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Open Championships in Freeport, The Bahamas with bronze in the men’s shot put on Friday’s opening day.

Richards finished third with a throw of 20.05m for his bronze, the only medal for Jamaica on the day.

Roger Steen of the USA posted 20.78m to beat compatriot Adrian Piperi to gold by just 0.02m.

Jamaica’s Samantha Hall could only manage fifth in the women’s discus with an effort of 57.70m, which she achieved with her first attempt.

Laulauga Tausaga-Collins of the USA won the gold medal with a throw of 63.18m, which bettered Cuba’s Denia Caballero on 61.86m and fellow American Rachel Dincoff on 61.56m.

Earlier in the day, Commonwealth Games bronze Kimberly Williamson of Jamaica finished sixth in the women’s high jump with an effort of 1.75m.

USA’s Vashti Cunningham, a former world indoor champion, won the gold medal through a leap of 1.92m as the nation won every gold medal on offer.

Fellow American Rachel Glenn secured the silver medal with 1.84m, which proved just enough to beat Mexico’s Ximena Esquivel who cleared 1.81m.

Meanwhile, national 200m champion Andrew Hudson in his first outing for Jamaica progressed to the men’s 200m final.

Hudson, who switched allegiance from the USA to Jamaica in July, won his semifinal heat in 20.25 seconds, the quickest time over the heats.

Jazeel Murphy, the other Jamaican sprinter, progressed to the final on time after finishing third in his semifinal heat in 20.80 seconds.

Jamaica will also have their two representatives in the women’s 200m final.

Natalliah Whyte won her semifinal heat in 22.78 seconds, the second quickest time in the heats while Ashley Williams was fourth in her heat in 23.67 seconds to advance on time.

Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle, who stunned the worldto win the goldmedal in the men’slong jump at the 2019 IAAF WorldAthleticsChampionships, is easily through to the final of the event.

Gayle easily secured his spot in Sunday’s final after registering 7.83m with his first attempt. The 7.83m was his only attempt and good enough to lead all qualifiers into the final. Shawn-D Thompson, the other Jamaican, was next with 7.76m.

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Marine police charged two men after seizing more than 400 kilograms of cocaine they found in a boat intercepted near Cooper Island last Saturday afternoon, police said Monday.

Pedro Samuel Sr., 58, of Diamond Estate, and Reno Alphonso, 27, of Fort Hill, were both charged with possession of a controlled drug
with intent to supply and failing to comply with a lawful order given by an officer, according to the Police Information Office.

The duo was scheduled to appear at the next available sitting of the Magistrates’ Court, the PIO noted in a press release. The incident began when Marine Branch officers on routine sea patrol ordered the captain of a “suspicious vessel” heading in the direction of
Cooper Island to stop, according to the press release. The captain initially attempted to evade police, but a second attempt to the stop vessel was successful, police said.

During an initial search, the officers found a “small quantity” of what is believed to be cocaine in the bow of the boat, according to the PIO. A subsequent search uncovered more than 400 kilograms of the drug, police said.
Acting Chief Inspector Dean Robin, the Marine Branch supervisor, praised his officers’ work.“These officers embrace the battle at sea with a passion and regularly stop and search suspicious vessels,” he said. “We are confident that with the eyes of our Marine Branch and help from other law enforcement agencies both locally and within the US, persons hoping to use these waters for drug trafficking will have a very difficult time.”

Other busts

Over the past two years, several other major drug busts have also been recorded in the VI.
Last October, Stacy Smith, a government security guard, was charged with possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply after police said they seized a cocaine stash worth $19 million from his house.
The seizure occurred after police officers with the Special Investigations Team and Armed Response Unit executed a search warrant on Mr. Smith’s residence, police said.
During Mr. Smith’s first appearance in court, the prosecutor told the court that the drugs weighed 188.04 kilograms.
Last August, members of the United States Coast Guard seized about 1,700 kilograms of cocaine with a “wholesale value” of about $51 million off the coast of Anegada.
The seizure came during a joint operation between the USCG and Virgin Islands police officers on Aug. 27. Smugglers dropped at least 57 bales of co cocaine into the sea before fleeing the area, the USCG stated at the time. No arrests were reported following that bust.
Earlier last year, police said they seized 259 kilo grams of cocaine following an operation at Brandywine Bay on Jan. 19, 2021.

In connection with the seizure, police said they arrested police sergeant Troy St. Helen, Shaun Massicott and Devon Bedford and charged them with possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply and being concerned with the sup ply of a controlled drug. A fourth man, Delaino Johnney, was later arrested and charged with possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply, ac cording to police.

Biggest bust

In November 2020, the biggest bust in VI history was recorded when police seized 2.3 tonnes of cocaine they said was valued at some $250 million from a property in Balsam Ghut.
The property belonged to police officer Darren Davis, according to police. He and his brother, Liston Davis, were charged in connection with the bust, as was another police officer, Emile Jimenez.
The month of the bust, USVI authorities arrested a Dominican Republic man named Ruben Reyes Barel, who they alleged was responsible for the VI stash as the ringleader of a drug smuggling organisation active here and in St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, and the DR.
They also alleged that one of the police officers charged in relation to the bust, Darren Davis, worked with Mr. Reyes Barel and provided protection for him.
The Balsam Ghut seizure, which officials said was worth almost 75 percent of the national budget, had cascading effects in the VI: Former Governor Gus Jaspert cited it as a reason for opening the Commission of Inquiry into potential corruption in the territory in early 2021.

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LOOP: The Antigua and Barbuda Government said the crews of two yachts were asked to take them out of its territorial waters after it was confirmed that they belonged to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Abramovich is one of several Russian oligarchs, who were sanctioned by international governments, for their close political and business ties to President Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions forced Abramovich to give up ownership of several of his profitable businesses including the Chelsea Football Club.

At yesterday’s post-cabinet media briefing, Information Minister Melford Nicholas said that Antigua and Barbuda was not one of the governments that imposed sanctions on Abramovich and it did not want to be faced with any legal challenges in the future.

“Our position was if there was in fact beneficial ownership of these yachts by these sanctioned individuals then we would have asked them to leave,” he stated.

The 67-metre explorer Garçon and 55-metre superyacht Halo were docked at the Falmouth Harbour in Antigua from early April to late July.

GPS on ship tracking website, Marine Traffic, showed the vessels are docked in Turkey, which is one of the few countries that has not imposed or enforced sanctions on Russia.

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