By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
Det. Deputy Supt. Cornwall Ford, head of the Flying Squad, with guns and ammunition seized by the police in recent times.
- File Photo
MORE THAN 300 illegal guns and 16,000 assorted rounds of ammunition, with a street value of more than $5 million, have been taken from the hands of criminals during police operations throughout the island since January.
This reflects a significant increase in the quantity of cartridges seized by the police compared to the corresponding period last year when the security forces recovered 6,282 assorted cartridges and 318 illegal guns.
Acting Commissioner Lucius Thomas yesterday attributed this success to the effectiveness of the police at the street level. But he said he was not satisfied with the number of arms and ammunition seized to-date. "There are too many guns on the streets and we are still having difficulty controlling the murders," he said.
SPOT CHECKS
"A small quantity of these guns and ammunition was intercepted at the island's ports of entry, while the majority were seized during spot checks as well as stops and searches based on intelligence," Acting Commissioner Thomas said.
During one of these on-the-street searches, the police seized a Taurus semi-automatic pistol Tuesday night and charged three men with illegal possession of the weapon.
The police said that the men, Marlon Campbell, 30; Ian Wilson, 31; and Lyford Dillon, 31, were travelling in a Toyota Caldina car, when they were stopped and searched in Buckfield, Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
Also on Tuesday, Garfield Sturridge, 33, was held at his Baker Street home in Jones Town, south St. Andrew, with a Lorcin 9-mm pistol and 11 cartridges. Two weeks ago, the police said, his younger brother, Kevin, was chased and held by police, in the same community, with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
The police say they have seized about 30 illegal guns in the last 16 days.
The private sector led Crime Stop programme reported yesterday that for the first six months of this year, it received 501 telephone calls, which resulted in the arrest of 40 suspects in connection with murders, drugs and illegal guns.
Type of weapons
seized since January
144 semi-automatic pistols
58 revolvers
56 home-made guns
16 shotguns
16 sub-machine guns
15 rifles, including M 16s
and AK 47s
