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Dancehall Artist Mr. Lexx Released After Being Detained In Panama City

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Lexx
Mr. Lexx

Mr. Lexx has been released after he was detained upon arrival in Panama City yesterday.

The Full Hundred deejay thanked Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, Judith Edwards from the consulate for Panama, and his fans for their help after he was detained by Panamanian Immigration officials at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City.  The officials had allegedly denied him access to the services of an interpreter and confiscated his phone.

Begining at 7:45am today, Lexx live-tweeted the ordeal, a day after sharing a photo from the Norman Manley airport, on Instagram indicating to his fans that he was taking a flight out of Jamaica.  He indicated that he has been tweeting the messages from his laptop.

“I’ve been in an immigration room at Tocumen since yesterday.   They detain me and threatening to bar me because I got arrested in the US 1997…. with no chance to explain, no phone call cause for whatever reason they took my phone.  They jus have me here,” he tweeted in his first post.

He then followed up with a series of tweets pointing out how unprofessionally he was being dealt with.

“Dis a foolishness enuh, i keep asking for someone who speaks English and dem not even businees wid me. jah jah…now they rushing me to sign some paper; I’m not signing that… This a bullcrap enuh. All now me cyah get a phone call and they keep saying no one speak English… smaddy get Babsy attention fi me nuh. cah dis need crowd. they took away my phone,” he wrote in a flurry of tweets.

He told producer Tony Kelly, who responded to his tweets, that they took away his phone after the producer asked whether he had any means of being contacted.

“This is so unfair. they not even giving me a chance to explain or plee my case. #help… i cant get a chance to speak to anyone. they aren’t even listening to me. this cant be right,” the Get those Monkeys out artist lamented.

The Mountain View native then sought to explain that the reason given for him being barred from the Central American country.

“So me being arrested in 1997 in US almost 30 years ago even doh the case was dropped against me, this is enough for them to bar me from this region? Naaaaaaah dis cyah right.”

“One stupid mistake almost 30 years ago and it still affect me now. Guys please be responsible with y’all decisions when unuh young. some shiiit don’t go away. kmt smh,” he noted.

“Wah dis me a go through????? like i spent my life walking the right line and for some reason some random person always push me off my line. cause this officer was jus out yesterday to get some work done no matter what. cause had they given me a chance to talk we wouldn’t be here,” he said.

Mr Lexx later tweeted that his troubles were even more petrifying as he was calling the Jamaican consulate and “nobody nah pick up”.

“The consulate not answering. and these ppl about to bar me from Panama innocently.   What’s the handle for the ministry that deal wid this type situation?” he asked.

“I’ve been here so many times before and this never happened once….a joke dis to BBC…i dont care if they dont want to let me in their country. that’s ok. but WHY ARE THEY THREATENING TO BAR ME?????????,” he added.

Shortly after 5:00pm, a follower assured Mr. Lexx that the Minister of Foreign affairs senator Kamina Johnson Smith was working to sort out his situation, this after a popular journalist and other prominent people tagged entertain Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange and the senator herself on Twitter, while ZJ Sparks and almost all her followers tagged both Ministers over on Instagram.

Almost four hours later, Lexx confirmed that he had been released. “Update. They not gonna bar me. Which was all my concern. I wish i had tweeted u guys earlier,” he wrote. “Thanks @Babsy_grange u and ur team have my highest praise. Also thanks to Judith Edwards consulate for Panama. Thanks for moving so swiftly . And thanks to y’all for retweeting”.

Mr. Lexx is among the artists who ruled the 1990s up to the mid-2000s and is known for hits such as Cook, Full Hundred, Ring Mi Cellie and Halla Halla. His album Mr. Lexx, which was released in 2000, spent five weeks on the Billboard Reggae chart where it peaked at number 12.

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