BIG FINE FOR BIG GANJA FIND - DRUGS FOUND ON TYRE SHIPMENT

United States-based officials from Zim Container Services Limited are
hopping mad. They are mad with the Jamaican Custom workers under whose
guard 16,000 pounds of marijuana, stacked away in a Zim container turned up
at a U.S. port from Jamaica.

Zim Container Services was slapped with a $128 million (US$8 million) fine
by United States Customs at Savannah, Georgia, early August.

The shipping line which off-loaded a shipment of tyres from Japan, was
detained in Georgia, coming directly from Jamaica. The ship reportedly
spent several days in Jamaica while it was held in the secure area at
Kingston Wharves before it returned to the U.S.

It is alleged that it was during this time that the containers were
contaminated.

The Sunday Gleaner understands that local Port Authority representatives
and Zim officials have been summoned to a meeting in the U.S.

Last week, efforts to reach chairman of the Port Authority, Noel Hylton,
was unsuccessful, as his office said he was out of office for the rest of
the week.

So too was Major Dave Anderson, who is in charge of security at the Ports.
He was said to be attending a meeting in the U.S. It could not be
ascertained if he was attending the same meeting with Zim and U.S. Customs
officials.

On Monday, Zim's local office manager, Patrick Burgess, said he could not
comment much on the situation as he would be attending the meeting.

But, he explained a breakdown of the charges.

"Customs officials charged us US$500 per ounce for the drugs. It is 16
ounces that make a pound and 16,000 pounds so do the math," he said.

The total amounted to US$8 million.

Customs officials at Savannah, Georgia, declined to comment, and referred
The Sunday Gleaner to Customs in Florida, the headquarters of U.S. Customs.

No response was received from that office despite several efforts.

A month ago, when Zim's local office was first contacted by The Sunday
Gleaner, Mr. Burgess reluctantly said, "It would not be convenient for me
to make a comment at this time."

Does that mean you could give a comment at another time, he was asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. I am not yet sure..." he said.

However, he was not averse to confirming the charges.

Sources tell The Sunday Gleaner that the frequent ganja finds on containers
from Jamaica is causing much concern among shipping lines doing business
here and some have expressed frustration with local authorities about their
inability to prevent cargo contamination.