Dear Editor,

I must emphatically commend the head of the police’s elite Lottery Scamming Taskforce, the erudite Sergeant Kevin Watson, for being a hard-working, dedicated and highly professional police officer. He has been using his Facebook page to sensitise the public, including young people, about the dangerous crime of scamming and the immense negative consequences that come with it.

Sergeant Watson and his dedicated team have, over the past two years, been visiting many schools in western Jamaica informing students about the deadly consequences of getting involved in scamming and the lengthy prison sentences that come along with scamming when convicted here in Jamaica and the United States. He and his team should continue their educational campaign.

It is imperative that National Security Minister Robert Montague allocate additional resources to the Lottery Scamming Taskforce so as to allow them to more swiftly, aggressively and diligently investigate, apprehend and prosecute those hundreds of scammers currently operating throughout Western Jamaica.

A recent media report stated that Sergeant Watson informed residents of Hanover that scammers in western Jamaica are now getting involved in gang-related activities and are taking over the operations of gangs in the region. This is cause for concern. That is why it is so important for the minister of national security to ensure that the overall resource level of the taskforce is increased, both in terms of manpower and financial, so that they can go after those scammers who are operating with impunity throughout the region and who are also involved in drug trafficking.

Every single effort must be made to apprehend the scammers, as they are wantonly, scandalously and disgracefully damaging the overall integrity of this country and putting at risk the country’s financial sector.

In addition, businesses that knowingly accept scamming funds should be made to face the full force of the law.

Robert Dalley

Montego Bay

robertdalley1@hotmail.com