Up in smoke
Ganja smuggling case crumbles as four men freed of charges after four years
Published:Saturday | January 10, 2026 | 12:11 AM
Four men implicated in the attempted smuggling of 1,500 pounds of compressed ganja, found at the Kingston Wharves four years ago, were yesterday freed of drug charges when they appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.
Shawayne Gordon, 32, Andrew Andrade, Phillip Henderson, 42, Antoine Swaby, and Elvis Banbury, 37, were freed of aiding and abetting the possession of ganja, aiding and abetting, dealing in ganja, and aiding and abetting, and attempting to export ganja, after Senior Parish Judge Paula Blake Powell upheld no-case submissions on their behalf.
A fifth man, Jermaine Minott, who was captured in video footage transporting the marijuana to the port, had pleaded guilty to possession and trafficking ganja charges and was sentenced to a fine in April 2021, while drug charges against a sixth accused, Andrew Andrea, were dropped.
The weed, which was destined for Canada, has an estimated street value of J$6.1 million.
During the application, lawyers for the accused men argued that the prosecution did not prove that the men handled the container. They also argued that there was no scientific evidence confirming that it was ganja that had been found.
HANDED DOWN FORMAL VERDICTS
Parish Judge Blake Powell accepted the submissions and handed down formal verdicts of not guilty for the men, who had been on trial since last November.
The weed, which weighed 1,516.7 pounds, was found by the police and Jamaica Customs Agency officers during a routine examination of containers at the port.
The contraband was found in 13 knitted bags and one duffle bag with 155 packages.
The men were later arrested and charged in connection with the seizure.
The court heard that Minott drove a motorcar with the ganja and was allowed on the wharves by security guards Gordon and Andrade.
The men were reportedly further escorted to the container, where Swaby allegedly drove a straddle carrier with the container and placed it on the ground before it was moved to another location at the port.
Attorneys Christopher Townsend and Chadwick Berry represented Henderson. Orville Morgan defended Gordon, while Shane Williams appeared for Banbury. Attorney CJ Mitchell represented Swaby.