The police Flying Squad yesterday seized hundreds of passports in a raid on a premises on John’s Lane, downtown Kingston, from where it was believed a passport and visa racket was being operated.

Two men, including a deportee, were arrested during the operation which was carried out jointly by the Flying Squad and the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA).

“Hundreds of local and international passports, some with visas; stamps; a computer; as well as other electrical equipment were taken from the premises,” said head of the Flying Squad Superintendent Cornwall ‘Bigga’ Ford, who added that the operation was carried out about 10:00 am.

“One of the two men arrested was a deportee from the United States, and we believe they were the main players in the racket,” he continued, adding that the men’s identities are being withheld.

Ford said that no one else was being sought in relation to yesterday’s seizure, but that a full investigation has been opened by the police and PICA into the operation.

Yesterday’s seizure was the latest of three successful operations carried out by the squad in the Corporate Area since Friday.

On Monday, the police — with the assistance of the Caribbean Search Centre — seized one handgun, eight magazines, two magazine pouches, two gun holsters, a ballistic vest, and more than 50 rounds of assorted ammunition, which were hidden in an abandoned building on Chestnut Lane, also in downtown Kingston. No one was arrested in that operation.

On Friday, the Fying Squad nabbed an employee of a telecommunications company who they said was found with two pistols and more than two dozen rounds of ammunition.

The weapons were found hidden in the man’s motorcar, from which the police said they also confiscated US$647, J$118,000 and some Japanese notes.