MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — A routine lunch delivery to the Montego Bay Freeport lock-up has morphed into a courtroom drama after police say they discovered a stash of contraband cleverly concealed beneath a dumpling.
Kenneth Richards, 43, stood in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday charged with possession of ganja, dealing in ganja, and attempting to introduce a prohibited item into a correctional facility. He entered pleas of not guilty to all three counts.
Court records outline a June 12 encounter in which Richards presented himself at the station, announcing he had brought a meal for an inmate. Officers conducting the customary inspection say the plastic food container held more than rice and stew: under a single dumpling lay a small bag holding roughly eight ounces of compressed vegetable matter believed to be ganja, along with rolling tobacco.
According to police, Richards immediately exclaimed, “Oh God, a mi uncle put it in deh, but mi tek responsibility,” when cautioned about the find. The items were seized on the spot.
Prosecutors told Parish Judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton that the case file is incomplete while they await a forensic certificate confirming the substance and a chain-of-custody report documenting how the evidence was handled. Those documents are mandatory before the matter can proceed to trial.
Judge Fairclough-Hylton set the next mention date for July 30 and allowed Richards to remain on his existing bail terms until then.
