A UK police officer once seconded to the Cayman force has written a book that describes pursuing a Colombian drug cartel and being cursed by an Obeah practitioner.

Richard Preston, who served in Cayman for two years in the ‘90s, said it was all very different from a career in the grey streets of Manchester in the north of England.

He added, “We were the first UK police constables to come over – 12 constables recruited to bolster the islands’ force.”

Preston said he also had to deal with murders and work with Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, made famous by the fictional James Bond.

Preston added officers from MI6 visited Cayman during his time and the police service assisted with surveillance work.

He said, “There were a few dodgy people in the islands, coming in from different places and setting up deals.

“Members of a Colombian drug cartel came in on a cruise and we followed them around taking pictures.

“There were drugs being flown in and we were locking them up. They thought Cayman was easier to deal with rather than flying the drugs straight into the US.”

He said Cayman police later seized $100 million worth of cocaine packed into six suitcases flown into the country on a private jet, with some of the cartel tried and sentenced to long jail terms and others flown to the US by the Drug Enforcement Administration to face justice there.

Obeah curse

Preston added he was put under a curse after he was called to a disturbance at a bar owned by an Obeah practitioner, identified in the book as ‘Professor Marmaduke’.

He said he and other officers attended after reports of a fight, but found no sign of the trouble when they arrived.

But he added, “Professor Marmaduke was very unpleasant, quite abusive to me.

“It turned out he had beaten up a young lad. He had taken a spirit off him to keep him safe and beaten him up because he didn’t pay him enough for it.

“He had a go at him again while we were there, so I arrested him. He cursed me while I was locking him up … It was a very odd experience for someone from the Manchester police.”

Preston said he later had to remove an Obeah warning, a dead cane toad tied on the door handles of the George Town courthouse, on the day Professor Marmaduke was due to appear in the dock.

Preston, who worked in Cayman between 1990-92, said the country had to look overseas to boost officer numbers as few Caymanians at the time wanted a career in uniform because there were better-paid options, such as the civil service and the hotel industry, available.

Preston said he lived in a West Bay Road hotel, the now-closed Indies Suites, for most of his time in Grand Cayman.

He added, “It was absolutely wonderful. We all certainly utilised all the facilities on the island. It was all a huge change from Manchester.”

‘The Real Death in Paradise’

The book by the former Greater Manchester Police detective took its title from the hit BBC TV show ‘Death in Paradise’, a comedy-drama about a UK policeman seconded to the fictional Caribbean British Overseas Territory of Saint Marie.

Preston’s ‘The Real Death in Paradise’ was published by Bonnier Books on 16 Jan.

The book also contains a story about Alan Scott, the governor of the day, who, in his dressing gown and armed with a knobkerrie, an African club, a souvenir of his army days in Kenya, helped police subdue a large, drunk and aggressive American.

The tourist had objected to being told to leave by the guard duty police officer after he entered Government House grounds late at night.

Preston later turned down a one-time offer to join the Cayman force full-time, but admitted he came to regret the decision, asked to change his mind, but was told he could not.

The officer, who rejoined his old force, leaving as an inspector and moving into anti-terrorism work, is now a security adviser for the British Red Cross. He said going home was the correct choice.

He explained, “It was the right thing for me, but it was seriously tempting to just stay and enjoy the positives – and the things that weren’t positive, just deal with them.”