These rifles, handguns, magazines, bullets and a single silencer were recovered by police at berth five at Newport West yesterday. Police say the weapons were found in a false compartment of a container which was shipped from the United States. No one has been arrested in connection with the find. (Photo: Michael Gordon)

Jamaica Customs and police yesterday discovered 16 guns, including four assault rifles and three submachine guns, as well as several hundred rounds of ammunition, which were being smuggled into the island with food imports.

"This is the most significant find in years," Superintendent Devon Watkiss, head of the police's Organised Crime Investigative Division (OCID), told the Observer. "We are making inroads."

According to the police, the weapons were discovered in a false compartment of a container at berth five at Newport West on the Kingston wharves, in a joint operation by the police and the Customs Contraband Enforcement Unit.
High-powered X-ray machines installed at the ports in 2003 helped in the discovery, the authorities say, although it was not clear whether there was advanced intelligence that the weapons were on the way.

The container was loaded at a port in the United States, but the police declined to say which one. Neither did the police disclose the company or individual to whom the container was consigned.

The finds were:

Some of the magazines and more than 800 rounds of ammunition found by the police yesterday. (Photo: Michael Gordon)

. Four AK 47 assault rifles;
. One Keltec machine gun;
. two Intratec submachine guns;
. one shotgun;
. seven 9mm semi-automatic pistols;
. one revolver;
. 400 rounds of 9mm bullets;
. 18 12-gauge cartridges,;
. 53 rounds of .357 bullets;
. 276 rounds of .45 bullets;
. 105 rounds of .762 ammunition;
. 20 rounds of .40 bullets;
. one silencer;
. 16 9mm magazines; and
. four AK 47 magazines.

No one was arrested in connection with the find, but the police say they are looking for a man, who they declined to name, who could be of assistance in their investigations.

"We are starting investigations, and our findings will be revealed," Watkiss told reporters. "We are looking for a Jamaican man who can assist us."

Police could not confirm rumours which flew yesterday that the guns were headed for a major criminal network.

A source at the wharf told the Observer that persons had come to the berth to claim the container with the arms and ammunition but fled the compound when they discovered that the cops were on their trail.

"Them scatter when them realise say the police were on to them," the source said.

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