US Customs nab passenger on Jamaican flight with cocaine in suitcase

Saturday, January 10, 2015 | 11:27 AM    

NEW YORK (CMC) – The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency says it has detained a passenger arriving at the John F Kennedy International Airport for trying to smuggle 2.5 pounds of cocaine into the United States.

CBP said that Chevelle Rusheen Nesbeth, who boarded a flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica, tried to smuggle the drugs in the handrails of her suitcase.

“Fortunately, US Customs and Border Protection officers were there to derail her attempt,” the CBP said in a statement.

It said during the course of the inspection, CBP officers felt an “unusually dense hand rail in each suitcase.

“Ms Nesbeth was escorted to a private search room where CBP officers probed the hand rails and discovered a white powdery substance which tested positive for cocaine,” it said.

CBP said Nesbeth was arrested for the importation of a controlled substance and was turned over to US Homeland Security Investigations.

The total weight of cocaine seized was about 2.5 lbs. with an approximate street value of more than US$45,000, CBP said.

“This latest seizure demonstrates the vigilance of our CBP officers, and their excellence in detecting those who would try to smuggle these illegal substances,” said Robert E Perez, director, Field Operations New York.

He said Nesbeth now faces US federal narcotics smuggling charges and will be prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office in the US Eastern District Court of New York.

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US Customs nab passenger on Jamaican flight with cocaine in suitcase

Loose crabs in cargo hold delay NY flight

Saturday, October 04, 2014 | 3:27 PM    

NEW YORK (AP) — If passengers on a delayed flight from New York to Charlotte, North Carolina, got a bit crabby, no one could really say they were being too shellfish.

Their flight left LaGuardia Airport about a half-hour late Thursday evening because some live crabs got loose in the cargo hold.

US Airways spokeswoman Liz Landau said Friday it’s unclear how the fairly small crustaceans escaped their container or what species they were. She says there were “more than a few” of them.

It’s unknown who was shipping them. The airline carries various cargo shipments, along with passengers’ luggage.

Workers swept the crabs out of the hold, and the flight went on its way.

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Loose crabs in cargo hold delay NY flight

British drug mule fined after almost dying on Caribbean flight

HAMILTON, Bermuda, Wednesday July 2, 2014, CMC - A 48-year-old British drug mule, who feared he was dying after swallowing more than half a pound of cocaine while flying from Antigua to London, has been fined US$800 in a Bermuda court.

The fine was imposed by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner on Colmin Smith after he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to possession of a controlled drug.

Smith lost consciousness aboard the Virgin Airlines flight on May 16 shortly after telling airline staff he had ingested a large amount of cocaine and believed one of the pellets had opened inside his stomach, forcing the jetliner to make an emergency landing in Bermuda, Magistrates’ Court heard.

After being taken to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, government analysts determined Smith had ingested a total of 61 pellets containing 239.39 grams of cocaine. The drug was found to have a purity of 73 per cent and carried a street value of US$68,250, prosecutor Takiyah Burgess told the court.

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Warner told Smith he was lucky to both be alive and to only be charged with possession of a controlled drug, which carries a maximum penalty of $1,000.

Smith said he thought death was inevitable, thanking God and the quick thinking of the plane’s crew for being alive.

“After I informed the flight attendant, in my mind, I died,” said Smith, who lives in Birmingham in the English Midlands. “I felt the death coming.”

Warner told Smith “I guess you are lucky, but there are other technical reasons for why you’ve been charged with this but let’s put it down to luck. You should thank whoever you worship or look to, because you are really lucky.”

Warner said Smith could also count his blessings for landing in Bermuda.

“You didn’t go to the first heaven but you came to the second heaven,” he said.

Smith agreed, adding: “I’ve met a lot of nice people here.”

If Smith fails to pay the US$800 fine he faces 80 days’ he faces imprisonment.

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British drug mule fined after almost dying on Caribbean flight

City Flight, Noon It Is return to the track

Sport

BY OBSERVER RACING WRITERSaturday, September 07, 2013

CITY Flight, the imported filly trained by Gary Subratie and owned by Michros, who ignited the racing scene late last year and earlier this season with some scintillating performances, returns to competitive racing today on the 10-race card after an enforced break of 210 days.The imported three-year-old dark brown filly, unbeaten in five starts, had a series of mishaps which forced her connections to restrict her racing career until she was well enough to do so. City Flight last faced the starter on February 9, when she easily defeated Rio Cobre, and El Poderoso. It was that fifth win by City Flight which had the tongues of racing pundits wagging and wanting for more. She won all her five races easily and was poised for an outstanding career until sickness intervened.Noon It Is, a four-year-old bay imported filly, has a racing record of nine wins from 21 starts. Her last victory came on March 6 when she defeated Blast Them Away and The Guv going over the six-furlong distance, thereby establishing herself as one of the top horses in the land. The anticipated and much talked about rematch with Blast Them Away took place one month later, with the latter turning the tables.Noon It Is finished a floundering eighth in that race when it became obvious to those watching that all was not well with the filly. It was later discovered that she was ill and has been out of racing since, a total of 154 days.Now both are returning, to the relief of owner Michael Bernard, the owner who heads the Michros syndicate. “I am indeed very happy. Both horses have come on very nicely after their respective encounters with illness. We took our time with them and now they are ready to race again. Both City Flight and Noon It Is have been meticulously prepared and I am very pleased with how they have responded in training for the race tomorrow (today),” Bernard said.Stable jockey with the Subratie barn, Omar Walker, is the regular rider for both horses. Bernard says it was a real difficult choice for the rider and his agent to decide which of the two horses to ride in today’s race.“It was a really difficult choice for Omar (Walker) between City Flight and Noon It Is. In the end after much consideration, he chose to ride City Flight,” Bernard said.City Flight in one of her victories.

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City Flight, Noon It Is return to the track

Not by chance is Ja first destination for Air Canada rouge flight

Tourism minister McNeill says new airline will compensate for recent shortfall in seats

JAMAICA has further cemented itself as the preferred tourist destination for Canadians, with the historic choice of Kingston for the inaugural flight of Air Canada rouge, the new leisure carrier powered by Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations.“We are delighted that Jamaica has gone down in the record books today as the very first destination flown by Air Canada rouge,” said Michael Friisdahl, president and chief executive officer of Air Canada Leisure Group, shortly after the aircraft touched down at the Norman Manley International Airport on July 1, 2013.“It is not by chance. We chose Jamaica in recognition of the tremendous partnership between our two countries. Today Air Canada offers more than 200,00 thousand seats each year between Jamaica and Canada,” said Friisdahl.Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Dr Wykeham McNeill was a happy man, as he welcomed the inaugural flight, declaring that it was of great significance that Air Canada’s leisure carrier, rouge, had selected Jamaica in identifying its first international destination.“Air Canada’s relationship with Jamaica is decades-long and it has been enormously beneficial to our tourism industry. For years, growth in arrivals out of Canada has been so robust as to move that country into number two position among our source markets.” McNeill said.But he noted that factors beyond Jamaica’s control had reduced airlift between Canada and Jamaica in recent times by 40,000 seats, threatening the island’s ability to sustain the rate of growth to which it had become accustomed.“Now that rouge is flying to Kingston, when it inaugurates service to Montego Bay in November Air Canada will have increased its capacity to Jamaica by 35 per cent overall, thus more than compensating for the shortfall from that market. These developments are creating a very positive outlook for our visitor arrivals out of Canada,” the minister chirped.Air Canada rouge’s July 1 start-up fleet consisted of two Airbus A319 aircraft and two Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, which the company said would grow to 10 aircraft by the end of 2013, with the addition of six Airbus A319 aircraft by December 2013, and an additional four Airbus A319 aircraft by March 2014, for a total of 14 aircraft by the end of the 2013-2014 winter season.A number of popular holiday destinations currently served by Air Canada’s mainline carrier will be converted to Air Canada rouge service on a phased basis, beginning October 2013 through March 2014 as additional aircraft are released by the mainline airline for operation by its leisure carrier, the company said.Air Canada rouge will operate flights to Mexico, the United States and the Caribbean including Jamaica, Grenada, St Kitts, Grand Exuma, Bahamas, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles and La Romana, Dominican Republic. This is in addition to Air Canada rouge service commencing with its summer 2013 schedule on July 1 from Toronto year-round to 10 Caribbean and Central America destinations.The Toronto-Montego Bay flights will be operated with Boeing 767-300ER aircraft that feature a two-cabin configuration with three customer comfort options including rouge, rouge Plus with preferred seating with additional legroom, and, beginning in winter 2013, Premium rouge offering both additional room and enhanced service.Minister of Tourism and Entertainment Wykeham McNeill (left) in airline talk with Michael Friisdahl, president and chief executive officer of Air Canada Leisure Group (centre) and Eamonn Ferrin, president and chief operating officer of Air Canada Vacations, shortly after the new leisure carrier landed in Kingston. (PHOTOS: BRYAN CUMMINGS)Members of the inaugural flight crew of Air Canada rouge are (from left) Brian Bartlett, Waseem Husainy, Suzanna Alsayed, and Tim Pepin.Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, Wykeham McNeill cutting the ribbon to mark the inaugural flight of Air Canada rouge to Kingston on July 1, 2013. Sharing the moment are (from left) Mayor of Kingston Angela Brown-Burke; Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment Damion Crawford; Michael Friisdahl, president and chief executive officer of Air Canada Leisure Group; Eamonn Ferrin, president and chief operating officer of Air Canada Vacations, and the Very Rev Monsignor Michael Lewis of the Roman Catholic Church.

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Not by chance is Ja first destination for Air Canada rouge flight