News

Senior citizen on ganja charges

By NAGRA PLUNKETT, Staff Reporter

western bureau

CONSIDERABLE COMPASSION WAS shown to a 73-year-old woman, who was arraigned in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on drug-related charges.

Myrtle Maud Ama, a Jamaican living in Manchester, England, was granted $10,000 bail in her own surety for possession, dealing in and taking steps to export approximately four kilograms (18 pounds) of ganja.

RM Winsome Henry permitted Ms. Ama to remain seated during her hearing, as the frail woman was visibly not in the best of health.

The senior citizen sat motionless in a navy blue and white dress, clutching a wooden walking stick, which is used to aid her walk.

Allegations are that on June 13, Ms. Ama went to the Sangster International Airport where she checked in a blue suitcase on a My Travel flight destined for Manchester, England. A sniffer dog alerted his handler to the luggage.

The accused was summoned and the suitcase searched in her presence. Articles of female clothing and 26 rectangular packages wrapped in brown masking tape, foil and carbon paper containing vegetable matter resembling ganja were found.

The investigating officer told RM Henry that as far as he could see "No effort was made to conceal the narcotic." The court also heard that Ms. Ama's adopted son visited the accused at her home in Highgate, St. Mary and helped to pack the bag.

She was subsequently instructed to stay with her former caregiver in St. Mary, who is willing to transport her back to the parish as she waits the outcome of her case. Ms. Ama will return to court on July 5.