News

Dane Clark, a Jamaican national, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday for the part he played in a drug-trafficking ring to move marijuana through Petersburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States.

News reports coming out of Richmond, Virginia, where Clark was sentenced by US District Judge Henry E. Hudson, state that Clark pleaded guilty to the charges on May 13, but contested the amount of marijuana he supposedly handled.

Clark was convicted of conspiracy to launder money and possession with the intent to distribute more than 100kg of marijuana.

In an email to The Gleaner, the Transnational Crimes and Narcotics Division of the Jamaica Constabulary Force declined comment on this particular case, stating: "We are not at liberty to comment on our interest (if any) in Dane Clark, due to reasons of operational security."

Evidence in the case showed that Clark joined a drug organisation in 1997, which has had operations in the states of California, New York and Virginia.

Women in on gig

Reports state that Clark recruited women to travel with large amounts of money hidden on their person, in exchange for marijuana.

The carriers, trafficking marijuana, upon arriving in northern Virginia, would get paid by Clark, who further transported the drugs to Petersburg for redistribution.

Clark also supplied a member of the drug organisation anywhere between 50lb and 300lb of marijuana from New York.

Clark was arrested in January this year while travelling under the name 'Oral Merchant'. He tried to enter Canada from Jamaica.