Negril is not Kingston, and being small, things are much easier to deal with from a government level. All the legal vendors are required to be licensed to sell their wares on the beach. There are still many "freelancers" but making a living is getting more difficult for them. Because of the govt's need to repay the IMF, taxes are being squeezed from every source possible. Even trip vendors, artists and roving bands are having to become licensed. The room for "freelancers" is much more difficult to find. If one vendor has to be licensed to be on the beach, they dont look kindly on those who are taking their business without paying the license fee.
This is making even the smallest freelancers have to duck and hide when the police (and other legal vendors) do their rounds on the beach. We have seen many cases of the "freelancers" being targeted by new undercover police "vendors", basically guiding them right into the arms of the waiting uniformed officers as they both run off the beach to "hide". Quite an efficient, effective operation.
These undercover cop vendors allow the police to blend right in and see the "bad apples" discussed above in action. At opportune times, they can and do arrest the offender for tourist harassment. Once again, an efficient and effective way to get those bad apples off the beach.
Not being in the drug trade, any statement I would make here would be nothing but a best guess. But there must be a supplier and then distributors to handle the transactions. Obviously something would have to make it back to the supplier, otherwise they would stop supplying to that distributor. With the decriminalization of small amounts of herb, this will make for some kind of a legal or semi-legal market. We know of legal grow labs being built as we speak. These changes will be interesting to watch.
As for palms being greased, it is in no one's interest, politician or not, to have tourists being harassed. And if you live in Jamaica in 2015, you know the "status quo" is a moving target. Jamaica is truly a "developing" country. Things are moving at an incredible pace.
