Southern Division seize 200th firearm

YVONNE WEBB

Two guns seized in Princes Town over the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays have brought to 203, the number of illegal firearms seized in Southern Division alone this year. Island wide, over 1,200 illegal firearms were seized in 2017.

A senior police source said this is the second consecutive year that Southern Division has crossed the 200 mark in terms of the number of firearms seized in year, but in terms of the Police Service, this is the first time that 1,200 plus illegal firearms have been seized in a year.

The officer noted that while the police’s feat is worth celebrating, it is a telling sign of how many illegal firearms are still in the hands of criminals in this country. He said the police will do all they can to get illegal weapons out of the hands of criminals.

“While everybody is clapping and boasting and we appreciate the work of the officers in recovering the illegal guns, it tells of the magnitude of the problem we are face with in terms of the fire power criminals have at their disposal,” the senior police source said.

Most of the murders this year have been committed by the use of guns, including two on Boxing day in Diego Martin and Port of Spain respectively. During an exercise on Christmas Day, led by Sgt Mohammed of the Princes Town Court and Process Branch, PCs Figaro and Hamilton went to Buen Intento in Hard Bargain where they recovered a .38 revolver, an imitation AK 47, an assortment of ammunition and a quantity of marijuana. Police said while the man was arrested and charged for possession of the the revolver, they are still seeking guidance relative to charging him with the imitation gun, fashioned from a car seat lever. It had no trigger and cannot fire.

On Boxing Day, officers from the Princes Town CID conducted an all day exercise from 10 am to 4 pm, which resulted in the recovery of a Perfecta pistol and the arrest of six people.

The exercise, led by Sgt Ramlogan and including PCs Mitchell and Ramkissoon, took the team to New Grant, Sisters Road, Brothers and Torrib Trace, where four people were arrested and charged for possession of marijuana. A maintenance warrant was also executed and one man arrested.

Princes Town officers said they used the element of surprise to conduct their raid on the two holidays when criminals thought the police were taking a break.

They also told the Newsday that for the year, the division has recovered some 22 firearms, which resulted in the arrest and conviction of all, except two cases.

A new Commissioner of Police is also expected to be appointed early in the New Year and the acting Commissioner Stephen Williams is in the running to be the new substantive head of the service.