Ganja price rising - Local supply shrinks as more product used in gun trade

Ganja smokers are feeling the pinch as prices for the high grade have skyrocketed, which the police say is partly because a large amount of Jamaica's weed is being shipped abroad in exchange for guns.

Acting Senior Superintendent of Police Patrae Rowe, head of the Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division (FNID), told THE STAR that the local market is being starved because cultivators are chasing bigger profits overseas, including Haiti.

"We had a seizure of 3,130 pounds of ganja that was destined for Haiti," he said. According to the police, there's an established "street currency" in the gun-for-ganja trade.

"We believe that 50 pounds of ganja is equivalent to one handgun and 100 pounds of ganja for one rifle," Rowe outlined. When the numbers are crunched, the haul seized from that single shipment paints a worrying picture.

"That 3,130 pounds, criminals could have gotten 63 handguns. Or if they choose to get a rifle, they could have gotten 31 rifles," Rowe said.

"A handgun sells for about $300,000, a rifle sells for about $800,000, up to a million dollars depending on the type. So 63 handguns at $300,000 each would give a profit of $18.9 million to a person selling these guns," Rowe explained.

He said this trade has become more lucrative than even the cocaine market in some cases, because the guns are highly valued by criminals.

"That's the correlation. Drugs are being used as currency for guns, and guns are sold for a higher profit margin."

The result of this "export first" approach by some farmers is a shortage of ganja on Jamaican streets, which Rowe said naturally pushes up prices. And this is where everyday smokers feel the squeeze.

Reports from several parishes suggest that the cost of a pound of weed has doubled in some areas, forcing dealers to go to other parishes for supply. Police intelligence shows that the firearms acquired in the guns-for-ganja trade are often used to protect drug shipments or to commit other violent crimes.

"There is a significant correlation between guns and drugs and whenever cocaine or ganja is stolen, or when drugs are seized by the police, it may lead to a murder or a shooting," he said.

Rowe said the FNID is made up of nearly 300 officers who work daily to disrupt these trades.

"We come to work each day to target drugs and guns. We have seizures every day, particularly ganja, and we have cocaine seizures very frequently. Wherever they are, we tend to find them."

Since the start of the year, Rowe said the police have seized 20,850 kilogrammes of ganja, a slight increase from the 19,966 kilogrammes seized by the corresponding time last year. On the firearms side, the figures are equally striking.

"Since the start of the year, we have seized 824 firearms. Last year, for the entire year, we seized 833 which means that perhaps by the end of the week, we will reach last year's total. By year's end, we could seize a thousand firearms," he said.