When 35-year-old Joseph Campbell left his home in the rural district of Alligator Pond in St. Elizabeth on Sunday, he told family and friends that he was heading to Kingston to visit his sick father.
But instead, Mr. Campbell went on a different mission. It was a road that led him to his untimely death, an incident which has stunned his neighbours.
"Mr. Campbell was positively identified (by his wife) as the diver whose body was discovered floating in the Gordon Cay area of the Kingston Harbour (Tuesday)," Superintendent Marlon Dietrich, head of the Marine Police Division, disclosed yesterday.
Campbell's body was found clad in a diver's suit, with an oxygen tank on his back. The police said another oxygen tank was found nearby, while a tool kit, including an adjustable spanner, hacksaw, screwdriver, bolts and nuts, was found in his possession. The police said Mr. Campbell was in the process of attaching a canister with more than 100 pounds of compressed ganja to the hull of a ship when he was struck in the head by the ship's propeller.
"We understand that he borrowed his friend's car (a Toyota Sprinter), went to Portmore, St. Catherine, where he checked in at one of those motels on the Port Henderson Road," said Supt. Dietrich.
Reports are that the car was found at the motel and later handed over to the owner who presented documents, suggesting that he was the rightful owner. According to reports reaching The Gleaner, certified divers like Mr. Campbell are offered up to US$5,000 for each canister they affix to commercial vessels heading for the United States and the United Kingdom.