Three men were held after being accused of removing approximately 200 pounds of yam from a field in Craighead in northeast Manchester.

The trio, who are now guest at the Christiana Police Station lock-up, are in their early 20s and are from the nearby community of Chudleigh. Two are known only as George and Nicholas while the third is yet to be identified.

Reports are that the men reaped the yam and stored it for sale at a later day, but got cold feet after the owner threatened to take drastic spiritual action if the loot was not returned to him. It is said one of the thieves overheard the yam owner being referred to a man who is said to be one of the region's best and most feared obeah man the culprits have ever dealt with.

The men, reeling in fear, then made an offer of $30,000 to the yam owner through a third party. The offer of the money coupled with the discovery of a pair of shoes belonging to one of the thieves in the yam field proved to be their undoing.

The matter was reported to the police and the men, who admitted to the offence, were taken into custody to face larceny charges.