Ganja case dismissed after two years

A St James woman who was arrested in 2016 after 61 pounds of ganja were allegedly found inside her luggage while she was boarding a flight leaving Jamaica had her case dismissed for want of prosecution when she appeared in court recently.

Latoya Williams, who was charged with possession of ganja, dealing in ganja, taking steps to export ganja, and conspiracy to export ganja, received the ruling from presiding judge Kacia Grant when she appeared in the St James Parish Court.

The allegations are that on August 11, 2016, authorities at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay noticed irregularities with a piece of luggage that was marked for departure.

The police were alerted, and a subsequent search of the luggage revealed 12 parcels of compressed ganja weighing 61 pounds.

Further checks revealed that the bag did not belong to any passenger. Williams - who was employed to an aviation services company based at the airport - was deemed to have attempted to facilitate the movement of the drug out of the country.

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She was subsequently arrested and charged.

When Williams appeared in court, the prosecution revealed that contact was to be made with the director of public prosecutions to determine the best course of action to be taken.

But after being told that the case had been before the court for two years, Grant moved to dismiss the matter.

"We cannot have persons languishing in court for two years. Two years is too long. I am minded to dismiss the matter for want of prosecution," said Grant.

The judge warned Williams, saying, "Others have walked this path and were not as lucky as you are, so keep out of trouble", before allowing her to leave the courtroom.