by Barry Alleyne

It could well be the largest ever drug bust in the history of the Eastern Caribbean.

The notorious marijuana trade in St Vincent and the Grenadines took a huge hit last month, thanks to a special eradication mission by the Barbados-based Regional Security System (RSS).

The WEEKEND NATION has learnt that in a six-week period between August and September, a 30-man RSS platoon was able to eradicate a marijuana farm in one of St Vincent's mountainous regions, netting contraband worth more than BDS$200 million.

The mission was a joint venture between the RSS and the United States' Military Liason Office, headquartered at the United States embassy in Wildey, St Michael.

Between August 18 and September 24, the RSS confiscated and destroyed 870 161 mature marijuana trees, 3 600 pounds of compressed weed and also destroyed 111 makeshift huts.

Based on the drug's street value of $2 500 per pound, the compressed contraband had a street value of $9 million, and the trees a value of $217 million.

"The huts were being used as living quarters, so that explains the scale of operations like this," RSS Director of Operations and Training Tyrone James told the WEEKEND NATION in an exclusive interview yesterday.

"They do business as if they are operating a farm, and live on the compound while harvesting the product."

With mature trees, hundreds of younger plants not ready for harvest were destroyed. First phase

The mission was the first phase of a special training course sponsored by the United States government through its International Narcotics Liaison Department, and another is planned for next year.

"I believe we have made a small dent here," James said. "If we make one more arrest, it's one more dealer off the street. If we destroy one more tree, it's one more tree that can't be harvested and sold on the street."

But deputy chief of the Royal Barbados Police Force's Drug Squad, Elliott Bovell, was concerned with how clever drug dealers had become.

The assistant superintendent revealed that since the RSS mission, Barbadian police seized another 1 300 pounds of compressed weed being smuggled here from St Vincent.

"What we have done is slow down the process, but what we also realise is that a lot of marijuana was harvested before the eradication programme."

James said when regional governments improved their coastguards, the fight against the illicit drug trade would really be on and their successes would increase.

"It will be far better for us when more equipment and facilities become available. The men are working," James said.

He also noted that the RSS' special aircraft had brought substantial success because of its ability to survey the coasts of more than three Caribbean islands every 24 hours. * barryalleyne@nationnews.com