Two in custody after firearm, ammo found in bedroom
Two men were arrested after a targeted raid on Thursday in the Oakland community in the St Andrew South Division resulted in the seizure of two Taurus 9mm pistols and 20 rounds of ammunition.
Police reports are that during the operation, a man was seen running from a dwelling in the community. When checks were made, the illegal guns and ammunition were seen in a bedroom.
The police reportedly continued their search of the premises and a suspect matching the description of the man, who was seen running from the building, was found with another man in a bedroom at the rear of the dwelling.
Both men were arrested on reasonable suspicion of being in possession of prohibited weapons.
Their identities are being withheld pending further investigation.
Thursday’s seizure follows another in the St Andrew South Division on Monday where a Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol along with two magazines containing 17 rounds of ammunition were found in a roof.
No one was arrested in connection with Monday’s find.
READ: Firearm, ammo found in roof in Kingston, seized
Deputy Superintendent of Police Coleridge Minto, head of the St Andrew South Division, issued a warning to residents in the division following this week’s gun seizures.
“There are some persons operating in the St Andrew South area; we have over 70 named gangs, with over 50 of them being active. These men are armed and dangerous and should not be approached and they should not be harbored by citizens,” DSP Minto said.
He also asked citizens to report illegal activities in their areas, while praising the recent efforts of the security forces in taking guns out of the hands of criminals.
“We are reminding them (citizens) to report if they see persons with illegal weapons, persons who are a part of gangs, those who are doing extortions to report them to the police and allow the security forces to deal with the matter,” DSP Minto stated.
“We are going after the guns, we are finding them and the coordinated approach that we are using has been yielding some amount of success in recent times,” he added.