THE police yesterday estimated at $100 million, the wealth of Donovan “Bulbie” Bennett, the slain leader of the Clansman gang in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

He was public enemy No 1 until he was cut down by police bullets last Sunday at Tanakay, near Rock River in Clarendon.

Bennett, 41, at six feet three inches tall, had been on the police’s “most wanted” list for the last 10 years. The police said they shot him dead him at his house when, armed with a .50 calibre Desert Eagle semi-automatic pistol, he refused to surrender to an Operation Kingfish team which had sought to take him into custody for questioning in connection with 80 murders, shootings, extortion and other crimes.

A woman, whom the police have not identified, was arrested in the one-storey house and was yesterday still being questioned by the police. “We believe that a conservative monetary estimate of Bennett’s extortion, construction and haulage activities, based on the intelligence we have at our disposal, is well over $100 million but I cannot say more on this as this is the subject of ongoing investigations,” according to Assistant Commissioner Glenmore Hinds, task force commander of Operation Kingfish, which was set up a year ago to dismantle major organised criminal gangs.

He was speaking at a news conference at the police commissioner’s office in Kingston, yesterday.

Hinds said that Bennett’s assets were a part of the investigations and “we are using all of the existing laws to bring to bear on whether or not we are able to have these assets confiscated, or otherwise”.

But ACP Hinds said that Bennett had “very little or no assets in his name, and whilst we do have a degree of evidence to suggest that he is heavily involved in a number of business activities, it would not be prudent to name other companies that persons are doing business with”.

Pressed by reporters for the names of companies Bulbie was associated with, Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas said the question would defeat the purpose of the ongoing investigations, as the police would have to answer related questions, which they were not then prepared to do.

According to ACP Hinds, Bennett advanced his position and standing over the years by strategically positioning himself as a legitimate businessman.

“Our intelligence indicates that Bennett acquired a large fleet of motor vehicles and heavy equipment, mostly registered to other people, including family members and those willing to do his bidding. We estimate that at the time of his death Bennett owned over 80 motor vehicles.

These included Toyota Coaster buses, motor cars, sports utility vehicles, trucks and heavy- duty equipment.

“As a result of his direct investment in heavy-duty equipment, Bennett became deeply involved in construction and haulage, not only in St Catherine, but in other parishes as well,” ACP Hinds told reporters.

Operation Kingfish strongly believed, ACP Hinds said, that most of the money Bennett used to fuel his own ambitions and that of his gang, and which he also used to eliminate his enemies, came from extortion, construction and from haulage and other forms of contracts.

ACP Hinds said Bennett had been “the one don” of the Clansman Gang, headquartered in De la Vega City, Spanish Town, St Catherine, since May 12, 1993, after wresting the leadership from Derrick “Puppy String” Eccleston, whom he murdered.

The Clansman gang supports the ruling People’s National Party and operates in areas with strong support for the party.

“He (Bennett) established an elaborate extortion racket which preyed on local business interests in both Central St Catherine and South Central St Catherine. Not even taximen operating in these areas were spared,” ACP Hinds said, in explaining both Bennett’s modus operandi and the sources of his wealth.

He said that as the leader of the highly-organised and ruthless Clansman Gang, Bennett became very sophisticated, directing members of his gang from isolated locations. Most times only a selected cadre of trusted members knew where he was. “Most Clansman members did not know Bennett by either face or voice…”, ACP Hinds said.

“Gang members, however, knew that their leader was not to be crossed and his instructions must be carried out to the last detail. Failure to comply would inevitably lead to death or other forms of gangland punishment.”

A report prepared by Operation Kingfish and distributed at yesterday’s press conference said: “Among his (Bennett’s) other business ventures, he earned substantial income from the bus park at 11B King Street, where the fee collected by thugs has now become a legitimate business as the premises is leased by an associate of Bennett for him to operate. He benefited from most if not all contracts in and around Spanish Town and its environs. From one such contract Bennett received $100 million. Up to the time of his death he was offering services to a major housing development in a section of Spanish Town.”

Meanwhile, Commissioner Thomas said he and the Police High Command supported an observation by Superintendent Kenneth Wade (who is in charge of the St Catherine North Police Division in which Spanish Town is located), that the PNP had supported the Clansman and Bulbie over the years.

“For the superintendent to speak the way he had spoken, he would have been armed with information and intelligence to give him that authority to stand up and speak the way he did…

“…We have seen, over the years, a relationship between organised crime, politics, drugs and other areas. I am not here to point to a political party of whatever colour, but indeed there is politics in organised crime.”

Commissioner Thomas denied that Supt Wade had come under pressure from him or from his office “to withdraw his statement or to say something else”. Supt Wade enjoys his full support, he said.