BAIL FOR CHEF HELD IN MASSIVE GANJA BUST

AS t James man who was arrested during an operation in which the police seized over 2,600 pounds of ganja at a wharf in Reading earlier this month, was offered bail when he appeared in the St James Parish Court last Friday.

Anthony Stephens, a 44-yearold chef of a King Street address in Montego Bay, is charged with possession of, dealing in, and taking steps to export 2,608 pounds of ganja.

Allegations are that on September 6, at approximately 12:20 a.m., a police team went on an operation to the Sterling Wharf in Reading, where they saw several men on the premises. The men fled on spotting the cops, with several escaping by boat.

Stephens was allegedly found hiding in a gully close to the property. The police said that several bags filled with ganja were also found. Stephens was subsequently arrested and charged.

During Stephens’ bail application on Friday, his attorney Martyn Thomas told Parish Judge Sandria Wong-Small that the defendant knew nothing of the ganja.

“He denies the allegations in their entirety. Statements will disclose that when he was brought to the area, the bags were cut open in his presence and he was asked about them, and he said they were not his,” said Thomas.

The court was told that forensic experts will have to come from Kingston to examine a boat which was reportedly seized at the time of Stephens’ arrest.

Wong-Small offered bail to Stephens in the sum of J$750,000, ordered him to report three times per week to the police and to submit his fingerprints. He was also ordered to surrender his passport.

Stephens will return to court on November 15.