For the month of November, we will be taking a look back at some of the stories making headlines 25 years ago in 1990.
OPERATION CRACKDOWN, a Barbados Port Authority (BPA) exercise, aimed at smashing a suspected smuggling ring operating within the Bridgetown Port, has met with success.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) started investigations last Tuesday. Two port workers are facing larceny charges; two clerks were suspended a few days later and yesterday two more were placed on suspension. The police have also questioned five others.
According to a WEEKEND NATION source, “the investigations are continuing and I am certain others will either face criminal charges or suspension”.
He added: “I think the ring is very big and we are only on the periphery. This thing involves all categories of workers.”
The crackdown followed the broaching of a carton containing about $100 000 worth of perfume (the CIF value being $15 000) consigned to Harrison’s.
The container, which arrived by the Tropic Jade, was unpacked on October 12 and the items discovered missing on October 23. Investigations started immediately and the “strayed” cargo was found on Monday.
The source explained that, in an effort to reduce pilferage, a surveillance has been in place “for some time now”.
“The perfume was placed on a skid and assigned to Shed Three for storage in a locker but it mysteriously ended up in Shed Two where the broken carton and skid were discovered,” the source said.
A port worker told the WEEKEND NATION: “One of the bosses swooped down on some of us and he found perfume locked up in one guy’s desk, so he called in the police.”
The source explained” “We have reached the stage where we cannot afford to have people in the country importing stuff and then not getting it.”
Pilfering at the port has been going on for quite sometime, but recently a number of systems have been put in place.
BPA chairman Edmund Harrison confirmed that he has been informed by the port manager that two clerks had been suspended and that police were investigating four other port workers.
He welcomed the action and added: “We have had several complaints about pilferage from sheds and because of that we have been paying more attention to the situation.”
He concluded: “More attention is being paid to cargo, especially that being unstuffed from containers.”
This article was first published on November 2, 1990.
