New trial date for men arrested in billion-dollar cocaine bust

A boat captain and two fishermen who were arrested in December 2022 in a billion-dollar cocaine bust, on a vessel off the coast of St Thomas, are to go on trial on March 5 in the St Thomas Parish Court.

Delroy Bremmer, 57, boat captain of Florence Hall in Trelawny, was charged along with fishermen Omar Nugent, of White River in St Ann, and Jomio Whyte, of Stewart Town, St Mary.

The trio is facing charges of conspiracy, dealing in, possession, importation and transportation of cocaine.

The new trial date was scheduled yesterday after the fishermen’s lawyer, Keith Bishop, renewed their bail application which was again dismissed by Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell.

The judge maintained the prosecution’s objection that if granted bail, the men are likely to flee the country.

In the meantime, Bremmer, who was previously granted bail on humanitarian grounds, had his bail extended in his absence. The court was informed that he is ill.

Attorneys-at-law Clive Mullings and Andrew Graham had applied for bail on Bremmer’s behalf last January, noting that he has several medical conditions.

According to reports, the men were arrested on December 26, 2022, when the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard intercepted the vessel and seized several knitted bags containing a white powdery substance resembling cocaine.

The substance reportedly weighed 521 kilogrammes and had an estimated street value of $1.3 billion.

It is believed that the cocaine was destined for Colombia.