MONTEGO BAY, St James — Police assigned to the Lottery Scam Task Force yesterday arrested two brothers and seized just under $600,000, two high-end Toyota motor vehicles — a Tacoma pickup truck and a Land Cruiser — during a raid in Pondside, Hanover.

Eight cellular phones, flat screen televisions, a small amount of marijuana, as well as lists with the names and telephone numbers of United States citizens were also seized during the operation, in what the task force said was a major dent in the lottery scam in which US citizens have been defrauded of millions of dollars.

The money seized yesterday included $5,700 in US currency and J$100,000.

Superintendent Leon Clunis, who heads the task force, said that at about 11:00 am — acting on intelligence — he headed a team into the Hanover community in search of a Toyota Land Cruiser said to be owned by a major player involved in the illegal lottery.

The vehicle was reportedly seen on a premises owned by an 84-year-old man who could not tell how the vehicle came to be parked there.

Subsequently, investigations led next door where the elderly man’s grandson — who is said to have been deported from the USA, where he was convicted of identity theft — was seen. However, he too could not give an account of the items which were eventually seized during a search of the swanky house he occupied.

His brother, who was also at the house at the time and who said he arrived in the island earlier this month, was found in possession of a US passport under the name he gave to the police.

However, the police did not believe the declaration that he was born in the US as he was said to be the brother of the deportee.

The two men were subsequently arrested and are expected to be charged with unlawful possession of property and breaches of the Dangerous Drug Act.

Superintendent Clunis said the local police have already made contact with their US counterparts in relations to the recovery of the US passport.

Since the inception of the Lottery Scam Task Force in January, the unit has seized, among other things, more than 45 motor vehicles — the majority of which are high-end. Additionally, more than 100 persons have been arrested, 20 of whom are facing money laundering and other charges.

“Basically, we have again made another dent in the lottery scam and we are not going to stop until it is totally eradicated,” Superintendent Clunis said.