Guyanese cop, two others held with illegal weapons

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — A police constable and two other persons were still in custody yesterday, following their arrest on Sunday for illegal possession of two automatic pistols and some 23 rounds of ammunition during a joint army/police operation in the trouble spot village of Buxton, on Guyana’s East Coast.

They were held by soldiers of the Guyana Defence Force who were at the time engaged in a joint anti-crime patrol with the police in Buxton – the scene of a number of gun-related killings, armed robberies and kidnappings. This is also where a number of wanted criminal elements have been shot to death by the security forces.

In a statement to the media, the GDF identified the three who were handed over to the Vigilance Police Station, as Constable Mark Cromwell, 21, attached to the Linden Police Station; Marlon Osborne, 24, also known as Marlon Scott and ‘Trini’ 24, a mechanic of Buxton; and Marvin Sears, 22 of Vigilance.

The GDF statement said the arrested trio were seen acting in a suspicious manner while travelling in a black Honda Accord motor car along the Buxton railway embankment, scene of numerous criminal activities.

They were apprehended by the patrol which discovered, during a search, that one of the men had a .45 Smith and Wesson automatic pistol with eight matching live rounds; another was in possession of a nine millimetre Sigsauer automatic pistol and 15 matching live rounds of ammunition. Neither of the men are licensed firearm holders.

Documents found in the car in which they were travelling, revealed that it is registered in the name of one Roger Khan of Thirst Park Housing Scheme.

Along with the arrested trio, the vehicle and the guns and ammunition were handed over to the police.

Call for Trinidad’s AG to resign

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — The parliamentary opposition, United National Congress, has called for the immediate dismissal of Attorney General Glenda Morean because of her “unsubstantiated claim” that a former UNC cabinet minister was allegedly involved in a case of attempted bribery.

The call by former Attorney General Kamla Persaud-Bissesser, came Sunday, following the earlier statement by the American oil company, FW Oil, denying Morean’s claim that it had named a cabinet minister in a bribery attempt in its US$100 million claim for damages against Trinidad and Tobago, over a frustrated offshore oil exploration contract.

Morean subsequently maintained her claim but declined to offer the names of the minister and local oil company officials allegedly involved in the attempted bribery act. Both FW Oil and the UNC’s cabinet minister, who was then responsible for the petroleum sector, have denied any such involvement.

Now, ex-Attorney General Persaud-Bissessar wants Prime Minister Patrick Manning to fire Morean as the government’s chief law adviser, contending that the Attorney General had seriously “compromised” her office “in order to score cheap political points”.

Attorney General Morean, who is scheduled to chair a two-day meeting of Caribbean Community Attorneys General in Port-of-Spain starting today, said she had not offered any evidence of the allegation of attempted bribery but was guided by information at her disposal in relation to the FW Oil petition for damages which is being challenged by the Trinidad and Tobago Government.