MANDEVILLE, Manchester – One week after a 22-year-old man was arrested and charged for praedial larceny, police say they caught his 46-year-old father and two other men with more than 600 pounds of stolen carrots and Irish potatoes.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Collin Johnson, who is in charge of operations for Manchester, told the
Jamaica Observer that the 46-year-old man was held as the driver of a motor car transporting the ground provisions on Thursday in Kingsland, near Mandeville.

“We have one person in the group that we consider a ‘second-generation’ in terms of praedial theft in the parish of Manchester. He has been arrested on several occasions for this offence. He served some time in prison for illegal possession of firearm and ammunition,” Johnson said.

“One of the men who was arrested is the father of one of the men arrested a week ago with the goat. Last week, the man that was held is from the third generation of the family and the [man held on Thursday] is from the second generation of the family,” added Johnson.

Last week, the
Observer reported that police said the 22-year-old alleged third-generation goat thief seemingly adopted the habit from his father and grandfather.

Johnson said the 46-year-old man was held during a traffic stop about 12:50 pm on Thursday.

“One car was stopped during a stop and search and several bags containing carrots and Irish potato were found in the car. Three men have since been arrested and charged. Carrots amounting to over 500 pounds and about 100 pounds of Irish potato were seized. The persons who were arrested are 46, 27, and 26 years old,” he said.

“They will be charged for unlawful possession of agricultural produce and transporting agricultural produce without a receipt and being in possession of agricultural produce without a receipt. Also, an application will be made to the court for the forfeiture of a Honda motor car, which was seized,” added Johnson.

The operations commander said the police have made progress in probing praedial larceny cases.

“Over the last few weeks several reports [were made] of praedial theft committed in the Manchester division. We received this information during our operation activities and patrols. We have sensitised our farmers during farm visits and meetings. We have also increased our operation initiatives around praedial theft – goats, cattle, and ground provision. Over the last two weeks six persons were arrested. Three were charged for larceny of cattle,” he said.