Downtown raid turns up guns, ammo
Published:Monday | June 7, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer
The security forces pounced on Matthews Lane and satellite streets of downtown Kingston in a predawn raid yesterday, seizing illegal weapons and detaining hundreds of young men in a major push to weaken the grip of gangs.
The sting operation resulted in the seizure of four guns and 140 rounds of ammo as law enforcers conducted door-to-door searches throughout the inner city. The massive swoop was spearheaded by dozens of police and military personnel backed by helicopter support.
Yesterday's operation was the latest in a series of surgical strikes on gang targets since the citywide upheavals sparked by the hunt for Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, a suspected drug lord-turned-fugitive. Coke's loyalists triggered the state's military behemoth to overrun insurgents and reclaim power in his Tivoli Gardens fortress more than a week ago. Coke is still at large.
The police did not state whether the raid also targeted gunmen suspected to have escaped from Tivoli in the early throes of the Labour Day incursion.
Weapon find
Karl Angell, the media point man for the constabulary, said yesterday the police have so far recovered an Uzi sub-machine gun and three pistols - a Smith & Wesson 9mm, a semi-automatic Luger and Sterm, and a semi-automatic Colt .45.
Eleven rounds were recovered with the Uzi and the other 129 bullets seized along with the three other guns.
The spokesman said the three pistols were seized at a business place on Princess Street. The owner of the business is now in custody.
The security forces also discovered several illegal electrical connections on the said premises.
Following the seizure of the pistols, the businessman's home in Kirkland Heights, St Andrew, was searched. Angell said the security forces found a large sum of cash and a BMW X5 sport utility vehicle at the premises.
The businessman is being interrogated by members of the Criminal Investigation Branch.
At least 87 of the 261 persons taken into custody have been processed and released. The processing - including fingerprinting - of persons still in custody will continue through to today, the police said.
When The Gleaner visited downtown yesterday, at least one DVD burner and many illegally copied DVDs were being confiscated by the police.
Only a handful of persons gathered on the roadsides or peeked from behind fences.
A Luke Lane resident who requested anonymity said she only left her house because she wanted to get food to prepare Sunday dinner.
"Nobody more than so nah go lef' them yard because them feel tense. Me only lef' because me can't do better," she said.
Traffic entering the communities from the intersection of Princess and Charles streets was diverted and most persons were barred from that entrance. Residents leaving the area were thoroughly searched before venturing out.
Teens not spared
A resident who declined to give her name appeared irate about the early-morning sting, telling The Gleaner that even 13- and 14-year-olds were detained during the curfew on Luke Lane, which commenced at 2 a.m.
She said no building was spared during the search for contraband at Luke Lane, where she resides, and that most men were taken from their homes.
The resident lamented that several of her relatives have been detained.
"Mi uncle, cousin, stepfather, all the man from me family gone and mi nuh know where them gone with them or what them gone do," the worried resident said.
"A whole heap o' things a gwaan down there. The police them a turn everybody house upside down," she added.
The curfew will continue in sections of downtown Kingston until 2 a.m. tomorrow.