Cops seize 10 guns in St Elizabeth
SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth – Police yesterday seized eight AK 47 rifles, a .357 magnum revolver, a .38 revolver and assorted ammunition during a pre-dawn raid at the Great Bay fishing beach in the Treasure Beach area of south St Elizabeth.
Four men who police say were “interacting” at a house about 100 metres from the shoreline, shortly after allegedly offloading the guns and ammunition from a 30-foot motorized canoe which was also seized, have been arrested.
The names of those arrested have been withheld by the police, pending further investigation. Police say they are anticipating more arrests.
Chief of Police in St Elizabeth, Superintendent Maurice Robinson who led the operation told the Observer that the arms seizure – believed to be one of the biggest ever in St Elizabeth – is part of the “ganja for guns trade” that has been ongoing on Jamaica’s south coast “for sometime”.
Police believe the weapons arrived in Jamaica from Central America, possibly Honduras.
“We believe we have made a breakthrough in the operations of international gun smugglers on Jamaica’s south coast,” Robinson said.
The police say that acting on information from headquarters in Kingston, the raiding party took up position at Great Bay sometime after 7:00 pm on Tuesday night.
Hours later, shortly after 3.00 am, the 30-foot canoe pulled into shore with several men aboard. The police watched as the men ferried heavy packages to the house before moving in. There they found the guns and ammunition and arrested the four men. Police say they are all fishermen – two from Great Bay, one from the district of Newell in St Elizabeth and the fourth with addresses in Great Bay and Mitchell Town in Clarendon.
Robinson told the Observer that the success of the raid was the result of surveillance carried out for over a month in the Great Bay area by intelligence operatives from Kingston and St Elizabeth.
The ammunition seized included eight magazines for the AK 47 rifles, and thirty-six 7.62 mm cartridges. Two outboard motors, a 60 hp and 55hp, were seized along with the canoe.
