ST JAMES, Jamaica — Lottery scammers are now firmly in the crosshairs of security forces as lawmen have ramped up their efforts to reduce the high incidence of this crime in St James.

Addressing a recent meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation, operations officer for the parish, Deputy Superintendent, Lynroy Edwards said, “June has begun and we have increased our activities against lottery scammers. Last week, we had major operations across the parish.”

“We conducted 14 raids resulting in eight arrests; 11 vehicles including high-end vehicles seized; and over $31 million was seized and other investigations are continuing and these operations will continue,” he continued.

St James has long been a hotbed for illicit activity where locals fleece individuals overseas of their money.

In the meantime, Edwards said the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) continues to target gangs in the parish under their Operation Storm 2 initiative, which has been reaping success as well.

“We have recorded, to put the thing in perspective, two murders — one gun murder and one knife — over the last seven weeks and based on our trajectory, we will come out looking excellent at the end of the year,” he said.

Since the start of June, the security forces in the parish have recovered seven firearms, 102 rounds of ammunition, and made one arrest.

Another man who reportedly engaged the police during an operation was cut down as well.

Edwards also shared successes in curtailing major crimes in the parish, noting particularly that murders continue to trend down in the division.

“The figures speak to 23 murders since the start of the year, and when compared to last year’s 73 minus 50, it’s a 68.5 per cent reduction. Shootings, we’ve recorded 26, which was 63 last year [so] minus 37 is 58.7 per cent reduction,” he said.

“However, we’ve had an uptick in robberies, 10 last year and 19 this year and break-ins, 16 last year and 18 this year,” he lamented.

Overall, Edwards explained that they have enjoyed a 45 per cent reduction as it relates to major crimes in the parish.