REPUTED leaders of the notorious One Order and Klansman gangs have been detained by the police, in what officers said was a clampdown on gang-related activities in the old Jamaican capital of Spanish Town.

Among those in custody is the reputed deputy One Order boss, Everton Minott, alias ‘Rado’. Police said Minott is being held on suspicion of committing several violent crimes in the St Catherine North Division.

Police have also arrested alleged One Order gang members Fitzroy Mathias, also called ‘Scuffler’, who is facing two counts of shooting with intent, Ryan Millwood, also known as ‘Larry Dog’ and Michael Maragh.

Millwood is said to be one of the One Order bosses who was arrested in connection with the murder of Clive ‘Cornbread’ Laing, who was shot and killed at Martin Street in December last year.

Maragh is being held on suspicion of committing a number of violent in the March Pen and Corletts Road in Spanish Town.

Police said they have also held reputed Klansman second-string boss, Reinard Harrison, also called ‘Roderick’. Harrison, who has been charged with shooting with intent, was being investigated for other serious crimes in St Catherine.

Other alleged members of the Klansman members held by the police are:

* Kevin Williams, popularly known as ‘Face Dog’, who has been charged with the murder of Radcliffe Jackson in Willowdene, Spanish Town last November;

* Kevin Johnson, also called ‘Finger’ — charged with shooting with intent arising out of an internal Klansman conflict in Lakes Pen last year, and;

* Anthony Blake, also called ‘Fugigal’ — charged with shooting with intent arising from the same internal gang conflict.

Head of the St Catherine North Division Superintendent Assan Thompson said while murders have dropped in the parish last year, in comparison to 2008, the gangs have been responsible for the majority of murders and violent crimes committed in that police division.

“The major strategic initiative for 2010 is to dismantle the One Order and Klansman gangs. This drive will continue and we will stop at nothing until these two gangs are destroyed. These are two of the most dangerous criminal gangs in the Caribbean,” Thompson said.

The reputed leader of the One Order gang, Rohan ‘Blacka’ Hope, was taken into custody, warned and released, according to Thompson.

Hope is the younger brother of the late former One Order boss, Andrew ‘Bun Man’ Hope who was murdered in February 2006.

Police, meanwhile, said they were seeking other One Order gang members who were major players in the conflict which engulfed the communities of Gravel Heights and Tredegar Park and caused the mass exodus of residents early last year.

Both gangs have been involved in a long-standing battle which came to a head after the November 2002 local Government elections when they waged a street battle for control of the ‘extortion rights’ to the municipal bus park in Spanish Town. Police said the feud between the gangs have resulted in more than 100 murders since 2002.