Today, we continue our reflection on some of the major stories covered by the Jamaica Observer over the 25 years of its existence.

ON October 30, 2005 Donovan “Bulbie” Bennett, the infamous gang leader who was unmasked a decade earlier as an emerging criminal ‘don’, was shot dead by police just outside the Clarendon community of Tanaky, near Rock River.

Another man, who the police identified only as Nathan, was also shot dead at the sprawling two-storey house on the Tanaky hillside, overlooking the winding Rio Minho.

Bennett, who had been on the run since 1995, was leader of the notorious Spanish Town-based Klansman gang.

At the time, then National Security Minister Dr Peter Phillips commended the police and soldiers who participated in the Operation Kingfish campaign that led to Bennett’s death.

“The success was achieved by superior intelligence, the support of the public, and the determined focus of the law enforcement agencies,” said Phillips, who was under pressure to control violent criminality in Jamaica where nearly 1,400 people were murdered up to October that year.

The police reported that Bennett, 43, and Nathan were at the Tanaky house, a large, white, boxed-shaped structure, when the security forces turned up shortly before 5:00 am. The cops had received intelligence that the gang leader “and other criminals” were hiding at the premises.

The police said as they approached the house they were fired on by Bennett and his crony. During the firefight both men were fatally shot.

A .44 Desert Eagle pistol with four live rounds and a Ruger 9mm pistol were seized after the shooting, the police said.

It was not immediately clear whether the men died in or outside the house or whether they had made an attempt to escape, neither was it clear whether other people were at the home and had escaped.

Bennett’s name, or more so his alias, “Bulbie”, as well as his goings-on came to national prominence when Heather Robinson, then a ruling People’s National Party (PNP) parliamentarian for St Catherine Southern, used him as a metaphor for the emerging politically aligned “dons”, about whose dangers she warned and from whom she told her parliamentary colleagues to stay away.

Robinson, in the sectoral debate, related how Bennett had sought her patronage and sponsorship to become the “leading don in Jamaica”, but told the House she was incapable of giving birth to a don.

“In that regard I am truly barren,” she said.

Robinson resigned from the legislature the following year over a rift between herself and PNP councillors in her constituency regarding the kinds of people with whom they were willing to be associated.

But over the years Robinson had spoken out against political toleration of gangs and frequently, on radio discussions and in her newspaper column, called Bennett’s name as a gang leader and accused him of a raft of murders and other crimes. She had also complained about the inability of the police to catch him.

After Bennett’s death, the police did not give specifics of his rap sheet but said: “(He) was wanted for several murders, shootings, extortion and other serious crimes committed in Spanish Town, Old Harbour, and Portmore in St Catherine, and May Pen in Clarendon.”

The house at which Bennett was found was neatly tucked away between several hills. It boasted seven bedrooms and five bathrooms — one of which was furnished with a large jacuzzi only. Most rooms were filled with expensive, even if seemingly inexpertly collected, furniture.

On the roof of the house were three large water tanks with a sophisticated water pump system. There was also a stand by electricity generator.

From either of the two balconies there was a spectacular view of the Rio Minho and the plains beyond.

“This is the lifestyle of a king,” Operation Kingfish spokesman Sergeant Steve Brown quipped at the scene. “No ordinary criminal should be living this kind of lifestyle.”

Tanaky residents said they were unaware that the house belonged to Bennett. They were under the impression that it was being built by a returning resident from England.

According to one resident, who identified himself as Mitchell, during the construction the workmen never saw Bennett. At the completion of construction workmen were refused further entry to the premises, Mitchell said.

Officials also launched an investigation into whether Bennett formally owned the land and the house and how they were acquired, the police said.

At the time of his death Bulbie’s wealth was estimated at over $100 million. He was the beneficiary of a multitude of government contracts, even though he was a wanted man. Police also said he had involvement in more than 100 murders.

The day following his death, members of Bulbie’s gang and people loyal to him rioted by blocking roads in and around Spanish Town, firing on the Spanish Town Police Station and burning T-shirts with the image of Phillips.

Two cops were shot and injured during the rioting and a Jamaica Urban Transit Company bus, a motor car, and a section of the bus terminus were set on fire.

Businesses remained closed, schools were unable to hold classes, and most taxi and bus operators stayed away from the old capital.

Several people who had left their homes to get to work and school were stranded early in the morning and had to walk back home, as intermittent volleys of gunfire blazed through the town.

A curfew was imposed on sections of the troubled town, starting at 6:00 pm.

“The area is still tense as there are periodic gunshots fired,” Superintendent Kenneth Wade, commanding officer in charge of the St Catherine North police division at the time, told the Observer.

“We did anticipate it, but irrespective of how much we had anticipated… the resources that are available to us, given what is happening in the Corporate Area and other places, would never be adequate,” Wade said.

At a news conference on November 4, 2005, then Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Glenmore Hinds, task force commander of Operation Kingfish — which was set up a year earlier to dismantle major organised criminal gangs — said that Bennett had “very little or no assets in his name”.

According to ACP Hinds, Bennett advanced his position and standing over the years by strategically positioning himself as a legitimate businessman.

“Our intelligence indicates that Bennett acquired a large fleet of motor vehicles and heavy equipment mostly registered to other people, including family members and those willing to do his bidding. We estimate that at the time of his death Bennett owned over 80 motor vehicles. These included Toyota Coaster buses, motor cars, sports utility vehicles, trucks and heavy-duty equipment.

“As a result of his direct investment in heavy-duty equipment, Bennett became deeply involved in construction and haulage, not only in St Catherine but in other parishes as well.”

Hinds said Bennett had been “the one don” of the Klansman Gang, headquartered in De la Vega City, Spanish Town, since May 12, 1993, after wresting the leadership from Derrick “Puppy String” Eccleston, whom he murdered.

“He (Bennett) established an elaborate extortion racket which preyed on local business interests in both central St Catherine and south-central St Catherine. Not even taxi men operating in these areas were spared,” ACP Hinds said, in explaining both Bennett’s modus operandi and the sources of his wealth.

He said that as the leader of the highly organised and ruthless Klansman Gang, Bennett became very sophisticated, directing members of his gang from isolated locations. Most times only a selected cadre of trusted members knew where he was. “Most Klansman members did not know Bennett by either face or voice,” Hinds said.

“Gang members, however, knew that their leader was not to be crossed and his instructions must be carried out to the last detail. Failure to comply would inevitably lead to death or other forms of gangland punishment.”

Also speaking at the news conference, Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas said he and the Police High Command supported an observation by Superintendent Wade that the PNP had supported the Klansman Gang and Bulbie over the years.

“For the superintendent to speak the way he had spoken, he would have been armed with information and intelligence to give him that authority to stand up and speak the way he did,” Thomas said.

“We have seen, over the years, a relationship between organised crime, politics, drugs and other areas. I am not here to point to a political party of whatever colour, but indeed there is politics in organised crime,” the commissioner added.