The five Jamaican fishermen picked up by United States Homeland Security investigators in September 2017 off the Haitian coast were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute some 613 pounds of marijuana, according to an affidavit filed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jesus Pertierra.

Pertierra, who filed the affidavit in the United States Southern District Court of Florida, said the charges followed an incident in which the fishermen were seen throwing bales overboard after they were spotted in a go-fast vessel approximately 12 nautical miles south-west of Navassa Island, on September 24, 2017.Pertierra named the five men who are from St Ann as Robert Weir, the captain of the Jamaican vessel; Patrick Ferguson; David Williams; Luther Patterson; and George Thompson. However, more recent reports following the decision by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to file a lawsuit last Wednesday in Florida, claiming that the Coast Guard had improperly detained four Jamaicans, excluded Thompson. No mention has been made of him in local reports either, and there has been no indication of his whereabouts.(Jamaica Observer)…[+]