US visa squeeze - Americans turn up pressure on Jamaica amid C-TOC cocaine probe

A senior Jamaican public official has confirmed that their American tourist visa was cancelled while in the United States (US) on official duty.

American authorities also cancelled the tourist visas of two high-ranking Jamaican policemen who were recently in the US on separate assignments, multiple law-enforcement operatives toldThe Sunday Gleanerlast week.

They are among a series of recent revocations, according to some operatives, who believe US authorities are putting the “squeeze” on to register their displeasure with the handling of a cocaine seizure at a since-disbanded elite unit within the Jamaican police force.

“They [visa cancellations] include public officials within the government and the security forces,” said one operative.

It has been reported that, for months, Jamaica’s law-enforcement partners in the US have been pushing for action following allegations that cops assigned to the now-disbanded Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime (C-TOC) division significantly under-reported the amount of cocaine seized during an operation in Green Island, Hanover last year.

The official whose visa was cancelled acknowledged, when contacted byThe Sunday Gleaner, being part of a team that travelled to the US for talks.

“After the talks, it was decided that [future] admissibility [to the US] would not be granted. Then, one of the persons in authority over there indicated that the visa would no longer be required,” the official said.

One of the senior cops was reportedly travelling to another country on official business when they were briefly detained in the US and interviewed before being told that their tourist visa was being revoked.

The police reported in a statement on January 23 this year that an audit uncovered two illegal parcels of cocaine inside storage facilities at C-TOC, the specialised unit tasked with dismantling criminal syndicates.

The audit was triggered by the arrest and charge of Police Inspector Martin Walker, who was assigned to C-TOC at the time, according to the statement from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

It is alleged that a quantity of cocaine was found in Walker’s private vehicle during an operation on January 8.

Weeks after the cocaine seizure, the entire C-TOC division was disbanded by Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake, and the more than 40 policemen and women assigned to the unit were transferred elsewhere.

The existence of the high-level investigation into the cocaine found at C-TOC became known to the public two weeks ago whenThe Gleanerreported that the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) searched homes and other locations linked to at least two senior cops previously assigned to the division, sources revealed.

MOCA confirmed that it conducted a series of operations to execute search and seizure warrants at a number of locations across the Corporate Area, as part of an ongoing investigation.

However, Major Basil Jarrett, director of communications at MOCA, declined to publicly discuss the investigation or the operations, citing the “sensitive nature” of the probe.

Visa revocation has long been a mechanism used by the US government to enforce immigration compliance, protect public safety, and advance its national security and foreign policy interests.

In 2010, the US revoked tourist visas for several Jamaicans after the then Bruce Golding-led Jamaica Labour Party administration initially balked at approving the extradition of Jamaican drug kingpin Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke to the American authorities to stand trial on drug-trafficking charges.

Golding declined to discuss the issue when contacted last Thursday.

The former prime minister could only recall the cancellation of a prominent businessman’s tourist visa and said no official reason or notification was given.

“As a matter of fact, it’s when [the businessman] went to the airport that he discovered that he couldn’t travel.”