With no let-up in the push to combat crime in the St Andrew South Division, a joint police/military team has rooted out illegal weapons, ammunitions and criminal suspects during operations staged over the last four days.

Head of operations at the St Andrew South Police Division, Deputy Superintendent Coleridge Minto, said the team, which is working under Operation Relentless, found the weapons while conducting searches in Whitfield Town and the Oakland community.

“We are going after them. We are finding the weapons. The division can report that three illegal firearms were taken off the streets in the last four days. In the first instance in Whitfield Town, one of the weapons was found in the ceiling of a house. The other two weapons were found in the bedroom of another dwelling,” he said.

“In the second incident in Oakland area, two male suspects were taken into custody on reasonable suspicion of being in possession of prohibited weapons. Two Taurus 9 mm pistols were recovered along with 20 9mm long rounds,” he added.

While there was no update provided about whether any of the 10 men the police named as the most wanted in the division have turned themselves in, Minto said his team has been reaping rewards during operations in the division.

“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 told the Jamaica Observer.

In the meantime, Minto reiterated his appeal to Jamaicans to share information about criminals and illegal activities in the area.

“We are reminding them to report if they see persons with illegal weapons, persons who are part of gangs, those who are doing extortions [and] to report them to the police and allow the security forces to treat with the matter,” said Minto.

The police/military operation was launched two weeks ago with searches carried out in Greenwich Town and Whitfield Town communities.

Minto underscored that the crime rate in the division continues to trend lower than last year but said the police are still not satisfied.

“Data for this time last year: We had 33 murders when compared to 22, a reduction of 33 per cent. Shootings, 38, when compared to 33 this year, a reduction of 13 per cent,” said Minto.