MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Against the backdrop of three people, including a woman, from here being charged in relation to a recent arms shipment from the United States, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has given another stern warning to criminals.

“I want all the criminals in Manchester to hear my voice very clearly. You have no hiding place. All the people who are importing guns into Jamaica, whether you live here or cooperate with criminals abroad, you have no hiding place,” said Holness on Saturday night at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce’s awards banquet.

Holness reiterated to his audience, consisting of business and political leaders at the newly constructed Bloomfield Professional Centre in Mandeville, that the Government has bolstered the country’s security and intelligence.

“I want that message to go out very carefully. Jamaica has invested heavily in building its national security apparatus. For many years we have had an unsophisticated security apparatus. We have invested in improving the sophistication of our security apparatus and that sophistication is not only in the purchase of equipment, in the training of our officers, but also in building strong diplomatic country-to-country relationships that will help us to undermine the criminal networks that exist across borders,” he said.

“If criminal organisations can cooperate across borders well, governments must cooperate even more strongly across borders to bring them down, eradicate them and eliminate them. Jamaica is on a solid pathway as we [saw] recently with various statements to tackle those gangs who believe that for such a long time they had free space and free rein. No more of that in Jamaica,” added Holness.

His comments come days after the United States’ top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, announced plans to help improve the security situation in Jamaica.

“We want to commit to doing more to stopping that flow [of guns] at the same time as we commit to increasing the capacity [of Jamaica].

“What we are talking about here when we talk about American assistance is America helping Jamaica build its own capacity, its own ability to confront these challenges and solve these problems, because security is a baseline for everything,” Rubio said last Wednesday.

Holness told his audience in Mandeville to pay close attention to his announcement that since 2016 his Administration has reduced the number of active gangs from 350 to less than a hundred today.

“In the last four weeks we have had several major seizures of weapons and other contraband coming into our formal ports,” said Holness, referencing the arrest of Manchester natives in relation to the recent arms shipment bust.

The three people, including a 16-year-old from Mandeville, Manchester, have been charged under the Law Reform and Firearm Act, following an operation at a property last Wednesday.

The operation involved police personnel from the Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division (FNID), the Area 3 Fugitive Apprehension team, and the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch (C-TOC) and stemmed from an ongoing investigation into the significant seizure of firearms and ammunition at a logistics facility in Newport West, Kingston, on March 19, 2025.

That seizure yielded 11 pistols, 50 magazines, and more than 300 rounds of ammunition. The teen and another man were charged with possession of identity information, under the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions Special Provisions) Act, 2013, while a woman was charged with possession of unauthorised ammunition, under the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022.

Holness also commended head of the Manchester police Deputy Superintendent Carey Duncan for the reduction in major crimes in the parish even as he pointed to the overall downward trend in homicides across the country.

“Be assured that as prime minister, I stand 100 per cent behind the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force). In murders we saw a decline by nine per cent in 2023. People scoffed at it. In 2024 we saw a decline of 19 per cent and some people said, ‘Well, maybe this is just a flash in the pan’, and year-to-date we are seeing a 35 per cent decline, and now I am seeing everybody want to come and take credit for it,” he said.

“It was never a flip-of-the-switch strategy: it can’t be dealt with like that, but [rather] with persistence. With strategic use of force we have been able to bring the crime monster under some form of control. We are not quite there yet but the strategy is working,” added Holness.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has given a strong warning to criminals. (Photo: Kasey Williams)