Three arrested, millions seized in MoBay lottery scam crackdown
Published:Tuesday | June 10, 2025 | 12:10 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Three persons were arrested and over J$28 million in local and foreign currencies seized during a series of targeted police operations in Montego Bay, St James, between last Thursday and Saturday, during which several high-end vehicles were also confiscated.
In the operations, which targeted persons believed to be involved in the illicit cash-rich lottery scam, the police visited properties in Bogue Village, West Village Housing Scheme, and Rosemount, where the arrests were made, and the cash, a mixture of local and foreign currencies, seized.
The three individuals, who were arrested and charged, were identified as 30-year-old businessman Odaine Gilling of Bogue Village, 23-year-old Darrion Miller of West Village, and 43-year-old Keyon Gibbs of Rosemount. They were all charged in connection with the items seized, alongside other charges.
“This is yet another message to the persons who are involved in lottery scamming that we are coming to get them, because this thing must stop,” a police source told The Gleaner. “This activity is not as innocent as some people might want you to believe. The proceeds are used to buy illegal firearms, which criminals use to murder and spread fear across the parish ... it must stop, it cannot continue.”
According to police reports, the first of the raids took place with simultaneous operation in Bogue Village and West Village between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Thursday. During the operations, the police seized J$5.3 million and more than US$2,900 in cash along with five high-end motor vehicles.
Arising from that operation, Gilling was charged with possession of identity information, and Miller charge with possession of an access device. It was not ascertained when they will make their first court appearance.
In an operation on Saturday, which spanned between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m, the police went to Rosemount, where four coordinated raids took place at several premises. In one of the raids, four high-end motor vehicles and several million dollars in cash were seized.
According to the police, during the search of a dwelling, which was occupied by a taxi operator, J$21.9 million and US$9,000 were found, as well as other currencies.
At another premises, which is said to be owned by a businessman, an additional J$500,000 and US$6,000 in cash were seized, together with cash in other currencies. Gibbs was arrested and charged in connection with that seizure.
The operation, undertaken by personnel from the Area One Anti-Lottery Scam Unit and signalling the beginning of a new wave of activities targeting lottery scammers, was carried out under the code name ‘Scam Don, Justice a Run’. It is aimed at separating persons involved in the illicit scheme from their ill-gotten wealth.
Lottery scamming, which came to the fore in St James in 2005, initially left several communities awash with cash. However, over time, it became a source of much misery, with criminal gangs getting into the ‘game’, sparking bloody turf wars which have seen St James registering more than 100 murders every year for the past 20 years.