But while the ComPol made that slip during the conference, the fact is that the bust includes a half a bale - which, experienced persons tell us - is not how the narcos ship their cargo.
Add this to the revelation of dirty cops in the department, there is inevitably speculation that the officers who found the drugs may have siphoned off half a bale. It may be a painful inference, but, in the current climate, very possible.
Today, the Commissioner quickly shut down that notion, saying that these officers have been nothing but hardworking and honest even when they could have easily taken the entire stash.
Jules Vasquez:
"They're shipped intact, in full bales, so when a bale has been cut into, the question arises, forgive the cynicism, but this is the culture we're in, was it taken by law enforcement?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"There is no reason or there is no iota of evidence to suggest that the law enforcement officers who found those drugs had tampered with it. Don't you also think that the persons who were involved in the movement of the drugs could have also taken their share from it? It can't be that you must always try to cast blame on those who seek to do good because the truth is these officers, if it is they wanted to be so corrupt, they could have simply found the drugs there, leave it there, walk away and pretend they couldn't find it. They were honest enough to report their findings and we deployed over 60 police officers in the jungle, almost the entire SPU and MIT were in the jungle because we were adamant that we must find the content of that plane so if you have 60 police officers in the jungle and half a bales missing, which is ten, what would 60 police officers do with ten? You don't think they would take more? Let's apply common sense."
