MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson says additional resources have been deployed to this south-central parish, and has announced that four robbery suspects caught in a dragnet on December 9 have been charged under the new Firearms Act.

The four accused were held following an armed robbery of a supermarket in Porus in which a Chinese businessman and another man were murdered, sending fear into the usually quiet town.

Police said the accused, whose names are being withheld, appeared in the Gun Court on Tuesday and were remanded until February 2.

Anderson announced the charges against the four accused while on a tour of the Manchester Police Division on Tuesday.

“The four people who were involved were taken to court this morning [Tuesday] and they have been charged for three particular offences — possession, stockpiling and trafficking of firearms; the latter two [are] under the new Firearms Act. It is good to see that [it is] already starting to impact this scourge of illegal firearms,” he said.

“It is a good step, and I think criminals should take note that they are on notice to be charged with offences that attract upwards of 15 years,” he added.

Anderson said that the investigation is ongoing and confirmed media reports that a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) remains under probe in relation to the Porus robbery.

“This was the first step — to charge these four persons on the firearm offences. Obviously, once one of our members is involved we pay particular attention to that because whether they are a member or not a member, as long as they are a criminal we are going to deal with them in the same way; but for a police officer, if he is involved in crime that is even worse. That is a betrayal of not only the force, but of the country,” said the commissioner.

Anderson said the JCF continues to use emergency powers to yield successes, including in Operation Relentless II.

He added that heightened operations will continue in the parish even after the states of emergency, which ended on Tuesday in eight parishes.

“The Manchester team has been working hard and have captured 35 named persons under normal policing methods, and they will be charged for offences of murder, illegal possession of firearm and other firearm offences and other crimes, and for robbery,” he said.

An anti-robbery task force has been formed and resources bolstered in Manchester to reassure citizens, including businesspeople.

“We also have deployed additional personnel to Manchester from Specialised Operations and from our department of weapon training and tactics… What I can say to the businesspeople is that this idea that Manchester provides easy targets, because of the businesses here, we are going to change that notion,” said Anderson.