Two rifles seized in St James

WESTERN BUREAU:

The St James police seized two illegal high-powered rifles on Thursday, the third in recent weeks.

The make and model of the two rifles, which were seized alongside a quantity of assorted ammunition in Birch Hill, were not disclosed. The area has had a long history of gang-related violence and has spawned many of the murders committed in St James over recent years.

On August 19, during another intelligence-driven operation in the nearby Sun Valley Road area, the police seized a mini-AR15 and a quantity of ganja underneath an abandon house. One man was reportedly arrested in relation with that find.

Speaking on the latest find, Senior Superintendent Eron Samuels, the police commander for St James, said members of the division’s operations support team conducted an operation in the Birch Hill, when they found the illegal weapons and ammunition stashed away in bushes.

“This operation yielded a lot of success; we found two rifles, make and model not yet ascertained,” said Samuels. “Also, there were several magazines, to include a high-capacity magazine that we found here in the bushes.”

According to Samuels, the find was not accidental as they went in looking for guns and wanted persons.

“This area has been under surveillance for some time, and we have done several operations within the area to find these weapons that we basically had intelligence that they were here,” he explained.

Samuels said the police will continue to target areas that they have reasons to believe more illegal guns are in the hands of criminals.

“We are very happy with this success. We just want to let the persons, members of the community here, know that we will continue to push our operations within the space, as we know the guns are here,” said Samuels.

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com