Andrea Downer & Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writers
THE POLICE have arrested four persons in connection with a multimillion-dollar generator-stealing ring involving cell sites across Jamaica. They were held last Saturday while they were attempting to remove a generator from a Digicel cell site in Faith's Pen, St. Catherine.
Head of Communications at Digicel, Harry Smith, told The Gleaner yesterday that the thieves were caught red-handed as tracking devices, which had been installed on the generator, alerted the police.
"I must commend the Moneague police, who were quick on the scene," Mr. Smith said. He added that tracking devices have been placed on generators at all the company's cell sites. The generators are used for back-up power supply during power outages and are particularly necessary during long interruptions of power supply during and after natural disasters, such as hurricanes.
Mr. Smith said the stealing of the generators began after Hurricane Ivan last year, and the company lost two generators valued at just under $2.5 million.
Superintendent Devon Watkiss of the Organised Crime Division, who is leading the investigation, said the police are continuing their investigations with the hope of arresting the mastermind behind the racket.
Generators were also stolen from Cable and Wireless cell sites. Head of Communications at that company, Errol Miller, told The Gleaner that eight Cable and Wireless generators have been stolen. With a value of US$25,000 per generator, Cable & Wireless' loss totals a staggering $12.4 million. However, Mr. Miller could not say if any has been recovered. He said that the company has put a number of security measures in place, which he refused to disclose.
When he began investigations into the generator thefts a few months ago, Superintendent Watkiss said he felt the generators were being stolen and sold overseas.
