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JAM | Jul 6, 2022

JCF declares no role in Popcaan detention

Gavin Riley

Gavin Riley / Our Today

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Dancehall star Popcaan. (Photo: Facebook @PopcaanMusic)

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is denying suggestions that local authorities had any overt or covert hand in the detention of dancehall artiste Popcaan yesterday.

The JCF, in a statement this evening (July 6), declared that no ‘stop order’ was placed on the entertainer born Andre Sutherland by the Government of Jamaica.

The JCF also confirmed that with Popcaan’s previous arrest for possession of marijuana in Barbados—the deejay’s travel woes are effectively his doing, as those charges led to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) placing him on a ‘green notice’.

This ‘green notice’, most recently confirmed in 2018, provides Interpol members, including the United Kingdom, with a “warning about a traveller’s potential criminal activities, where the person may be considered a threat to public safety”.

Logo of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). (Photo: Wikipedia.com)

“Such a notice does not request any specific law enforcement action be taken against the subject. It merely acts as an advisory to local law enforcement that the subject of the notice has been in contact with the law elsewhere,” the JCF maintained.

It was not made immediately clear from the JCF statement whether this green notice was at the root of Popcaan’s previous run-in with British authorities earlier this year.

At the time, the deejay had accused unnamed Government officials of ‘tipping off’ law enforcement, who he said claimed he was a “gang leader”.

Continuing, the JCF said that secondary security screenings, such as the one Popcaan endured at the Heathrow Airport in London, are a likelihood for any potential traveller to the UK and, while the reasons for this may vary, the matter falls within the purview of law enforcement.

See statement in full below:

“The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has noted statements being made in the public domain, which assert, imply or suggest that the Jamaican police caused international recording artiste, ‘Popcaan’, – whose given name is Andre Sutherland – to be detained at an international airport in the United Kingdom.

The JCF can confirm that Andre Sutherland was convicted in 2009 in Barbados for possession of marijuana and subsequently deported to Jamaica. He was again arrested in Barbados in 2011 for Possession of Cocaine.

Arising from those arrests and other intelligence gathered, a Green Notice was generated by Interpol in relation to him in 2015. The Notice was then reconfirmed by Interpol in 2018. A Green Notice provides Interpol members with a warning about a traveller’s potential criminal activities, where the person may be considered a threat to public safety.

Such a notice does not request any specific law enforcement action be taken against the subject. It merely acts as an advisory to local law enforcement that the subject of the notice has been in contact with the law elsewhere.

No Stop Order was placed on Mr Sutherland by the Government of Jamaica.

Travellers may be subjected to Secondary Security Screening at International Airports for a variety of reasons and these reasons fall completely within the purview of the local authorities in those respective jurisdictions.”

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