MONTEGO BAY, St James – Activities in the crime-plagued communities of Glendevon, Hendon and Norwood were crippled yesterday as a curfew imposed by the security forces at 6:00 in the morning prevented movement in and out of the areas.

Not even the Glendevon Primary and Junior High School was able to have classes as police and soldiers cordoned off the communities in search of illegal guns and wanted men.

“Clearly we are aiming for the apprehension of wanted men because that area is a central point for some of the key players in the Stone Crusher gang,” Assistant Commissioner Clifford Blake told the Observer last night.

Seven people were up to yesterday afternoon detained in the curfew, which Blake said was expected to continue into last night.

The St James police have intensified operations in crime hot spots recently in an effort to put a lid on the wave of criminal activities affecting the parish which have resulted in 27 murders in the parish since January 1.

This follows the 178 recorded murders last year, many of which were allegedly influenced by the lucrative proceeds from cyber crimes, including a sweepstakes fraud in the telemarketing sector.

As a result of last year’s high murder toll, Security Minister Peter Phillips was prompted to establish an arm of Operation Kingfish (a task force that targets drugs and gangs) in the parish capital, Montego Bay, as one of the latest measures put in place to tackle the growing violence in the parish.

At the same time, he warned the police that the Professional Standards Branch had been mandated to identify and uproot corrupt cops who have been accused of aiding criminal activities in the parish.

Monday night, in a broadcast to the nation, Phillips announced that joint police/military operations were initiated in Montego Bay and other St James communities to help control the upsurge of crime, as well as the introduction of hot spot policing techniques in the affected areas, among measures to put the brakes on criminal activities in the western end of the island.