Bandits take $150k from casino, held by cops

HOURS after two bandits held up the cashier and security guard at Jamlong Casino on Monday and escaped with $150,000, Central Division police held two suspects, got back a stolen car and found a quantity of cocaine, ammunition and a ski mask.

However, none of the stolen cash was found. Acting on a tip-off, police went to a San Fernando house and held two men, 19 and 25, of Cocoyea Village. They remained in custody yesterday as police tried to find out where the stolen money was hidden.

A 9.25 am on Monday two men, one armed with a gun, entered Jamlong Casino on the Chaguanas Main Road and announced a robbery. One held the security guard at gunpoint while the other robbed the cashier. The bandits escaped in a gold-coloured Sentra.

Police led by Insp Marlon Alexander and including Cpl Curtis Pierre and others were tipped off about the whereabouts of the suspects and went to Findhorn Avenue, Cocoyea Village, where they found the two suspects in a house. They searched the house and seized 20 rounds of .38 special ammunition, 1.2 kilos of cocaine, a bulletproof vest, a ski mask and the getaway car.

Police said yesterday the men are not known to them but they believe with their arrest some similar robberies in the Central and Southern Division could be solved. Investigations are continuing.