APB wants stakeholders to help to stamp out praedial larceny
Published:Tuesday | July 15, 2025 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Inspector Orville Bushay, who heads the Area One Police Division’s newly formed Agricultural Protection Branch (APB), wants agricultural stakeholders to cooperate with the unit in fighting praedial larceny in western Jamaica.
Bushay said the unit’s mission includes educating the public on the necessity of proof of purchase for crops and livestock.
Bushay, who was speaking at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation, said his unit has been active in St James and Trelawny, investigating reports of a cattle-stealing ring between both parishes.
“One of the things we would have noticed is that a lot of cattle stealing goes on in Trelawny, from what we are learning, and a lot of it is destined for Montego Bay,” said Bushay. “In the following week after our inauguration, we held three men travelling in a white Axio heading to St James with a goat, and we realised it is a ring, because we had several reports of this white Axio stealing goats in the Trelawny area, and other areas, too. All three men were of St James addresses.”
Bushay was referencing the June 17 arrest of three men and the seizure of a goat in their motor car along the Salt Marsh roadway in Trelawny.
“A lot of persons are transporting animals without them being tagged, and transporting agricultural produce without a Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) receipt. We have had two arrests of persons who were transporting cattle without tags, and six arrests of persons transporting produce without JAS receipts,” he continued.
URGING COOPERATION
“The farmer should issue a receipt to the purchaser, and that request is not being followed, so we are sensitising and doing arrests, also. Our intention is that for everyone who is stopped out there, we should be able to trace what they have to the grower, or to the person who reared the animal. We know it is a difficult task, but we are calling on all the agencies to join us as we continue on this path,” Bushay added.
On June 27, two weeks after the APB’s formation, the Senate approved amendments to the Praedial Larceny (Prevention) Act to combat the theft of agricultural produce, livestock, and fish. The legislation was passed with three amendments.
At that time, Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith, leader of government business, said that the amendments would impose harsher penalties and enhance the traceability of agricultural produce. She also noted that 243 agricultural wardens had completed written examinations and background checks and were awaiting medical clearance.
Bushay also told the municipal meeting that based on information received, a portion of the approximately $14 billion which is lost annually because of praedial larceny is used to finance criminal activity.
““We trust and hope for Area One, as we step up our drive, that we will be able to have a reduction in praedial larceny and that farmers will be able to produce and sell, and persons will be able to rear their cattle and sell,” he said.