KINGSTON, Jamaica — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang has confirmed that 233 illegal firearms, which were being smuggled into the country, were intercepted at one of the nation’s port this week.

The bust included 74 rifles and 159 handguns, as well as over 40,000 rounds of ammunition. The seizure is believed to be one of the country’s largest gun find in history.

Chang made the disclosure at a post-Cabinet press conference on Thursday at the Office of the Prime Minister.

He attributed the crackdown on illegal weapons entering the country to increased scanning at ports and the coordinated efforts between the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) and the local security forces.

“We intercepted 233 firearms coming into the country. Special credit to increase scanning at our ports. And again, it is the prime minister who introduced the director of the Commission of Customs as part of our National Security Council, and has had the Customs [Agency] working closely in tandem with our security forces, applying all their knowledge and security as well as their responsibility for the customs area to intercept those who seek to disrupt our society,” Chang said.

Noting that 233 firearms can equip a “company of soldiers”, the minister warned, “That going on our streets is designed to create mayhem.”

He said investigations were ongoing as the security forces strive to track down the individuals responsible for the shipment.

“These organisers are worse than the shooters. They must be taken off the street. That level of ammunition on the streets with these weapons designed to create mayhem by a distorted and cruel mind must be stopped,” Chang said.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness joined Chang in issuing a stern warning to organisers of crime, stating “I want to pause here to make an appeal to our Jamaicans overseas and those who are here collaborating in the importation of illegal weapons. We will find them and we will find you. And we are serious about this.”

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Meanwhile, the prime minister also highlighted the progress the country has made with a 43 per cent reduction in murders so far this year.

“In other words, we have 43 per cent fewer murders today than we had last year, and if you annualise this, then we would have a murder rate of 24.3 per hundred thousand, so we have literally cut the murder rate in half,” Holness noted.

“When you look at the statistics, the last time that we were this low was in 1991, almost 35 years ago, so it is an amazing achievement by any measure that we have managed to achieve this. This is not by chance; it is a result of the strategic and unprecedented investment in national security. Since 2016, this administration has invested $87 billion in security…So we are investing roughly $9 billion in security each year,” he added.