More illegal firearms removed from streets of St James, Westmoreland

WESTERN BUREAU: A modified gun with the capability of firing on rapid was among two firearms seized by a joint police military team on the Jimmy Cliff Boulevard in Montego Bay this afternoon during a flag march.

The weapons – a modified Glock 26 pistol with nine 9MM rounds and a Glock 27 pistol with seven .40 rounds – were found in the possession of a man and two women who were traveling in a silver Toyota Premio.

The three are now in custody.

The latest find is part of a 14-day operation, which started last Tuesday, aimed at ridding the streets of St James of illegal firearms and wanted persons, and increasing police presence on the road, said safety and security acting divisional commander and senior superintendent of police, Eron Samuels.

According to Samuels, the Chip Glock (modified), which is one of the most dangerous firearms in the hands of gunmen, has become extremely popular.

“If we find five guns, three are modified,” he told The Gleaner.

Since Tuesday, Samuels and his operations team have seized eight guns in the parish. On Tuesday, an SLR rifle was seized in Salt Spring, and on Thursday three rifles and one hand gun were recovered.

“And then on Saturday, with our increasing stop and search activity, we seized one hand gun and arrested one individual,” he said.

The acting SSP is calling on citizens to work with the police to help rid the streets of criminality.

The parish of Westmoreland is also making inroads in the fight against crime. Last Friday, that region's SSP Wayne Josephs said ongoing efforts against hoodlums, who are hell bent on killing, maiming and sometimes just driving fear in the hearts of decent law abiding communities, had been reaping success.

“We have been conducting follow up operations, secondary to our major operation that was launched on Tuesday in the Barrack's Road (Savanna-la-Mar) area, otherwise called Gully Bank, where we launched a curfew and conducted cordon and searches and recovered two shotguns,” Josephs said.

On Friday, three more firearms were recovered in the Gully Bank area, which included a high powered AR15 rifle. Simultaneously, an operation was conducted in the White House police area, which yielded two nine millimetre pistols and a number of rounds.

The ultimate goal, he said, is to build back public confidence across Westmoreland and to make the communities safe again.

“I'm taking this opportunity again to ask persons to share any information they have that can assist the police to arrest perpetrators and to help us to disarm or reduce the number of prohibited weapons that are in the wrong hands,” Josephs appealed.

He is also urging citizens to help police their own communities, particularly when they see strange faces pop up.

“When you see strange faces coming into your communities, strange faces who you know are associated with the wrong persons, you need to pass on the information to the police,” he stated.

The SSP noted that sometimes the person with criminal intent within the space may not want to come up front and commit the crimes, but will bring their friends from other communities within the space to carry out the deed.

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