Major arms bust in MoBay

High-powered guns, ammunition and ballistic vests seized

Adrian Frater and Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writers

WESTERN BUREAU:

FOUR HIGH-POWERED guns and more than 1,000 rounds of assorted ammunition were among a number of items seized during a police operation in volatile Green Pond, St James, yesterday.

Also seized were a ballistic helmet and three ballistic vests, including one with the word 'police' written in white on the back.

During the operation, which was carried out by members of the St James Flying Squad and their colleagues from the Mobile Reserve, three men from the Green Pond community were taken into custody. The police are withholding their identities pending further investigations.

The seized guns, which were all in immaculate condition, were: a .22 rifle, a Browning 12-gauge shot gun, an Uzi sub-machine gun and an AK47 assault rifle.

The ammunition, which was found stashed in crocus bags and paint pans, was for the weapons seized, among other guns.

Elated with success

Senior Superintendent Linette Williams-Martin, who took over as commanding officer for the St James Police Division yesterday, was elated with the success of the operation.

"It is a major find, which is extremely encouraging," Williams-Martin said while addressing a press conference after the operation.

In outlining details of the operation, Williams-Martin said the operation, which started shortly after 6:30 a.m. and lasted for just under four hours, targeted sections of Green Pond and nearby Salt Spring.

While not disclosing where the intelligence came from which led to the police operation, Williams-Martin called for residents of St James who might have intimate knowledge of criminal activities to cooperate with the police in the quest to break the back of criminality in the parish.

High-powered guns, procured through the proceeds of illicit schemes such as the lotto scam, are prevalent in the criminal underworld in St James and, based on police intelligence, have figured prominently in the parish's high homicide rate.