U.S. Customs hold airliner

Press, 9 August 1985, Page 6

U.S. Customs hold airliner

NZPA-AP New York United States Customs agents, citing a Federal law that allows the confiscation of vehicles used to transport narcotics, seized an Air Jamaica airliner yesterday, minutes before it was to fly to Kingston with 245 passengers.

The flight was boarded on a runway at John F. Ken-

nedy Airport a day after the United States Customs Service confiscated 19.35 kg of marijuana found in unticketed baggage from the plane.

Since October the Customs Service had seized almost 4540 kg of marijuana carried on Air Jamaica flights, said Michael Kaufman, a spokesman for the agency. “This was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said.

Most of the 4540 kg seized was found in baggage not ticketed to any passenger or in cargo not listed on the plane’s official manifest. “Obviously, there’s an

internal conspiracy with something like that,” Mr Kaufman said.

Repeated violations of Federal law by Air Jamaica had led to the agency’s decision to seize the plane, Mr Kaufman said. It was the airline company’s task to take responsibility for cargo and to clear its flight and ground personnel concerning narcotics trafficking, he said.

Customs officials in Washington told the Jamaican Ambassador, Mr Keith Johnson, that Air Jamaica could have its plane back if it paid a penalty of SUSIB,OOO ($34,200) and promised to step up efforts to deter smuggling. Mr Johnson said that the airline would be prevailed upon by the Government to take corrective action. The airline later delivered a certified cheque for SUSIB,OOO ($34,200) to Customs agents at Kennedy Airport and reclaimed the plane.