US COUPLE GETS YEAR IN CAYMANS JAIL ON DRUG CHARGE

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, July 28 (Reuters)- A Cayman Islands judge on
Tuesday sentenced a U.S. couple to one year in prison for possession of
marijuana after they brought the drug into the British colony on a cruise ship.

James Fletcher Whaley, 25, and his wife, Ashley, 29, of Montgomery, Alabama,
were taking a Caribbean cruise in early July when their ship, the Majesty of
the Seas, docked in the Cayman Islands.

A routine search by Cayman Islands customs agents and dogs revealed two
large bags of marijuana in the Whaleys' cabin, authorities said.

The couple said they had bought the marijuana in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and
claimed it was for an employee of the ship, who was never identified.

In court, a Cayman Islands official said the practice of U.S. cruise ship
passengers buying marijuana in Jamaica to smuggle into the United States had
become so common that his department routinely used drug-sniffing dogs when
cruise ships coming from Jamaica called at Grand Cayman.

The Whaleys will join about 15 other U.S. and Canadian nationals serving
prison sentences in the Cayman Islands for trying the same method of
smuggling marijuana or cocaine bought in Jamaica.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett