April 2026 trial for Ranko Gang members
Published:Thursday | September 25, 2025 | 12:12 AM
Eight alleged members of the Clarendon-based Ranko Gang, reportedly led by a police constable, Tafari Silvera, are scheduled to go on trial on April 13, 2026.
The trial date was scheduled last Friday when the defendants appeared in the Home Circuit before Justice Leighton Pusey. A trial readiness hearing was also fixed for January 29 of next year.
An earlier trial date had been booked for September 16, but was vacated due to the persistent absence of some of the defence lawyers.
Silvera is among four constables charged alongside four civilians in the matter.
Constable Tehneil Francis, David Henry, and Tevin Henriquez were remanded, while bail was extended for the female accused, Jasette Brown, Constables Daneilio Barnes and Rajay Morrison, and Ovilgo McKenzie.
Silvera was first arrested in June 2021 after allegations surfaced that he had hired two hitmen to murder a police informant from Clarendon. He faces conspiracy to murder charges alongside two civilians, Christopher Robinson and Mark Bennett, in a separate case.
The other defendants were arrested last March amid accusations of their involvement in the 27-member gang.
Reports initially indicated that eight police personnel were linked to the gang, with one fleeing the island when Silvera was apprehended. However, one cop was released after two complainants declined to cooperate with prosecutors regarding robbery allegations against him.
The Ranko Gang has been connected to 17 criminal incidents, including shootings, burglaries, robbery with aggravation, illegal possession of firearms, shop-breaking, conspiracy to murder, and abduction, allegedly committed across multiple parishes between 2019 and 2021.