Canadian on cocaine charges granted $1 million bail

Orville Brown, the Canadian national who was arrested on May 24 after reportedly trying to smuggle cocaine out of Jamaica, was offered bail in the sum of J$1 million when he appeared in the St. James Parish Court on Tuesday.
 
Fifty-one-year-old Brown, of a Toronto address, is charged with possession of, dealing in, and attempting to export two and a half pounds of cocaine.
 
Allegations are that, on May 24, Brown was preparing to board a West Jet flight to Toronto, at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, when a routine search revealed four parcels with a cocaine-like substance strapped to his body.
 
On Tuesday, Brown’s attorney Maurice McCurdy made a successful bail application before presiding magistrate Sandria Wong-Small, who had previously expressed concerns about the defendant’s frequency of travel between Jamaica and Canada since 2012.
 
As part of Brown’s bail conditions, he was instructed to report daily to the Barnett Street Police Station in Montego Bay, and to surrender his travel documents. A stop-order was also placed at all ports of entry for Brown, preventing him from leaving the jurisdiction while the case is in progress.
 
The matter will be mentioned again on August 12.