Cops suspect guns on the move post-Beryl, step up ops

The police in St James, suspecting that persons may have been forced to move illegal weapons from their hiding places due to Hurricane Beryl, carried out an operation a day after the passage of the categoey 4 storm and seized a firearm.

They also took three people into custody.
According to a report from the police, about 4:30pm on July 4, they were conducting stop-and-search operations targeting wanted persons, persons of interest, and people who may be carrying prohibited weapons in the St James Police Division when they stopped a Subaru motor vehicle with three occupants aboard.

At the request of the police, the men exited the vehicle and a firearm reportedly fell from the pants of one of the men.

The gun was retrieved and found to be a Browning single-action pistol with 11 live rounds affixed in the magazine.

The three occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody pending investigations and the vehicle taken to the Mount Salem Police Station. 

According to the report, the seizure brings the number of illegal weapons taken off the atreets within the St James Police Division since the start of the year to 58.

Senior Superintendent Eron Samuels said the police will be relentless in their effort to rid the streets of all illegal weapons, noting that they have ramped up their operations in the immediate post-hurricane period

“We believed that persons would move these weapons from their hiding places because of the impact that the hurricane may have on the various locations. So, we have increased our stop-and-search and targeted operations within the division post-hurricane Beryl, and we believe that we need to, as best as possible, rid the streets of these weapons, go after the wanted persons and ensure that we create a safe environment within the St James Division,” he said.

SSP Samuels thanked the members of the St James Police Division, their partners in the military and the JCF for contributing to the operation.

“We are relentless in our efforts to rid the streets of these prohibited weapons, wanted persons, we want to take persons of interest into custody whilst we investigate these matters. We believe that with this continued effort we’ll create that safer environment within the St James Division,” he said.

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