MONTEGO BAY, St James — Eight people were detained during a joint police/military operation, led by the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Task Force (MOCA), in several communities in the western parish of St James yesterday.

Among the detainees were four women, who, along with a man, are accused of breaching the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act of 2013. The remaining three men were arrested under suspicion of money laundering.

Cash, amounting to over $400,000, was also seized during the operation, which commenced at about 5:00 am and lasted until the late afternoon.

During yesterday’s operation, the MOCA team was joined by personnel from the Financial Investigation Division, Mobile Reserve, the Area One operations team and the Anti-Corruption branch.

According to Inspector Dahlia Garrick, the spokesperson for MOCA, charges are likely to follow after the eight detainees are interviewed in the presence of their lawyers.

In the meantime, Inspector Garrick warned that the police will be unrelenting in their efforts to apprehend persons who illegally amass wealth.

“The efforts of MOCA are concentrated on taking the profit out of crime. We will be relentless in this task and will be going out for persons who illicitly enrich themselves,” she warned.