By
Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer
Phillips (left) and Whyte (right)
A MAJOR Jamaica/United Kingdom law enforcement programme is to be extended, reportedly because of the success achieved to date.
Operation Airbridge, the initiative targeting drug couriers who transport cocaine, largely by swallowing packets of the drug, has been so successful, according to officials on both sides, that it will be extended by a year.
Word of this came from John Whyte, head of London and National Detection Region, of the British Customs and Excise department, while on a visit to Jamaica last week.
"We met with Gilbert Scott, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of National Security, and we've agreed that we will keep this going for one more year, running through to 2006. We believe that, by keeping up this sustained effort, that's the way we are really going to make a difference," Mr. Whyte told The Sunday Gleaner.
DRUG MULES
Operation Airbridge was launched on June 1, 2002, at the height of local and international concern about the number of so-called drug mules being caught at the Jamaican international airports and at foreign ports of entry.
A key component of the operation was the installation of Ionscan machines at the Jamaican airports to detect the cocaine smugglers. According to figures released by the British High Commission in Kingston the number of cocaine swallowers detected in the UK has fallen substantially, from 730 in 2002 to 185 in 2003. This year, up to June, 41 swallowers were arrested, representing a reduction of more than 90 per cent since the operation began.
On the Jamaican side there has also been significant success. During the first year of the installation of the Ionscan machines, the number of cocaine smugglers detected at the airports prior to boarding flights for the UK, went up from 82 to 216.
Law enforcement officials are now claiming that, due to the deterrent effect of the cooperation initiative, the number of smugglers detected at the airport fell to 64, up to June 2004.
With that rate of success, the British Government has decided to extend the programme beyond next year, to 2006.
"We were well aware that if we came here and offered support for a short period then there would be difficulties, because there are costs involved. We wanted to make sure that the skills that were being transferred to Jamaican officers were maintained to the highest level. So we were in this for the long term," Mr. Whyte explained.
The Jamaican Government is also acknowledging the effectiveness of Operation Airbridge, with National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, describing it as a major success. "It has had the effect of staunching the flow of cocaine on the national airline and others and letting people know that there is a tremendous risk involved in ingesting cocaine to carry to other countries," Dr. Phillips said.
