Canned cocaine tampered with, says Trinidad company
By Rhondor Dowlat By Caribbean News Now contributor
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — According to SM Jaleel & Co Ltd, which describes itself as Trinidad and Tobago’s number one exporter of non-petrochemical products, a 20-foot container of cans labeled as Trinidad orange and grapefruit juices that were discovered by US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officers to contain 732 pounds of cocaine was not exported by the company.
The discovery was made during the inspection of the container by CPB officers in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 20, 2013. The wholesale value of the cocaine is about US$12 million and has a street value of as much as US$100 million, according to CBP officials.
SM Jaleel said in a statement that the shipment was not exclusively juice and was a consolidated container with other products from Trinidad not associated with SM Jaleel.
“The juice product was not original and had been tampered with,” the company said.
According to local media, US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials are currently in Trinidad investigating the incident.
SM Jaleel was in the news last month after UK resident Joromie Lewis died after drinking a pear drink manufactured by the company in Trinidad. UK police sources said the drink contained a lethal amount of cocaine.
In this instance also, S M Jaleel claimed that the juice product was not exported to the UK and that the label on the product was last produced in September 2013 only for the local Caribbean market.
The company distanced themselves from last month’s incident, saying that “the act has to be the actions of individuals and or parties not affiliated with or known to them”.
For more on this story go to:
See also iNews Cayman story published December 15 2013 “Britain issues warning after Vincentian dies from cocaine-laced Caribbean drink” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/britain-issues-warning-after-vincentian-dies-from-cocaine-laced-caribbean-drink/
