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The government is turning its attention to whether there are sufficient grounds to track down and prosecute the perpetrators of the criminal mischief which triggered the strange incident at the Norman Manley International airport last week.
The airport controversy took centre stage at Wednesday's post cabinet press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister.
File submitted to DPP
Now that reports surrounding a charter plane arriving at the Norman Manley Airport with large wads of cash in foreign currency have reportedly turned out to be a big lie, the government is moving to prevent any such recurrence.
The government's Minister of Information, Daryl Vaz could not say if the investigators have identified anyone who may have perpetuated the erroneous story.
However, Minister Vaz said the police will be submitting a comprehensive report on the airport incident to the nation's top prosecutor, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewelyn to determine criminal liability.
He did not say when the document will be turned over to the DPP, but he said that priority is being attached.
"Any issue like this that involves a former Prime Minister and major investors in Jamaica obviously are to be taken seriously. As such I would expect that if the police have information they will act on it so that it is carried through to get the advice of the DPP. But as you know in cases like this sometimes things like these come by phone calls, by all different forms," said Mr. Vaz.
Steps taken to review procedures
Minister Vaz also stated that steps are being taken to review and reinforce procedures to ensure compliance.
"I am sure that the agencies of government have a set routine and procedure for intelligence information that comes in to be share among them. We have seen what has happened and we are making sure to put in place provisions for any repeat of such an incident with the types of persons involved," he said.
Erroneous information
The report submitted to Prime Minister Bruce Golding on Wednesday claims that false information was circulated among members of the Customs Enforcement Team.
The information was that a former Prime Minister and a number of diplomats carrying diplomatic passports were among the passengers; a scan of diplomatic baggage suggested that it contained a large quantity of bank notes and the diplomats had objected to the baggage being opened and searched and had opted to re-board the aircraft and depart.
The information was then reported to a senior CET officer, who was not present at the airport.
He contacted a senior officer in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, who in turn engaged the Solicitor General by conference call to seek guidance on how the matter should be treated.
This was done in light of the purported diplomatic status of some of the passengers and baggage.
The advice was given based on the erroneous information.
Chain of command broken
In the release from the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Golding noted that the incident has revealed weaknesses in the established airport interdiction procedures which require collaboration among relevant authorities.
It appears also that the clearly established chain of command that ensures that information is properly evaluated and the appropriate course of action taken, was not followed.
The report to the Prime Minister revealed that prior to the landing of the aircraft, security officials received information that foreign currency was concealed in a secret compartment of the aircraft.
The information did not include any reference to the identities of the passengers.
A search of the aircraft was conducted in the presence of the crew after it landed and after the passengers had disembarked and proceeded to Immigration and Customs at the General Aviation Centre of the airport.
No contraband was found.
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