NORWOOD, St James — Security Minister Dr Horace Chang says a number of violence producers, including lottery scammers, in Norwood, St James, managed to elude the security forces dragnet by taking flight from the community when the zone of special operations (ZOSO) was announced by Prime Minister Andrew Holness last Sunday.

“Some of them escaped. A lot of the individuals in there who are violence producers are involved in advanced credit fraud (lotto scamming), and they have acquired property all over Jamaica,” stated Dr Chang.

The security minister, who is the Member of Parliament for St James North West, contended that when the ZOSO was declared it was misconstrued by some community members as a state of emergency.

“Naturally, when this zone was announced a number of people moved out. My understanding is that some people thought we were coming with a state of emergency, so they moved out,” Dr Chang stated.

“It’s a zone [of special operations] so it’s a different concept, so most [residents who moved out] will move back to their home, then, of course, can be questioned, and the police will have to decide how to use what evidence they have – if it is enough to go to court or they just have to monitor and maintain the peace until the community is restored to normal,” said Chang.

Dr Chang said it is customary for community members involved in the lottery scam and own houses elsewhere to move out when curfews are imposed, adding that a number of curfews have been imposed in Norwood in recent months.

He was speaking to members of the media during a visit to the Norwood ZOSO on Saturday. He was accompanied by Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) Managing Director Omar Sweeney; Mona Sue-Ho, senior manager, social development at JSIF; and National Water Commission Vice-President of Operations Kevin Kerr.

On Tuesday, during his visit to the Norwood ZOSO, Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson revealed that three illegal firearms were seized and seven individuals had been arrested and charged for various crimes up to the third day of the enhanced security measure.

The security minister, meanwhile, said the security forces are acquainted with the areas where the violence producers operate, which contributed to the early success.

On declaring the Norwood ZOSO, the prime minister said since the start of 2021 there have been 15 murders and 14 shootings in the community, which has a population of almost 12,000 people. And, since 2019, there have been 66 murders recorded, with six gangs wreaking havoc in and around the area.

General Anderson also underscored that the rampant criminal activities that were reported in and spilling over into other communities from Norwood gave rise to the ZOSO in the community.

“There are certain circumstances that a community has that lends itself towards a zone of special operations and that is that you have a long-term criminal activity, usually gang warfare, in that community over time and shootings, killings in that area, and it may also impact other areas,” the police chief said.

ZOSOs now exist in Norwood and Mount Salem, St James; Denham Town, West Kingston; as well as Greenwich Town and August Town in St Andrew.