Venezuelans held with machine gun

THREE Venezuelan men are expected to appear before a Point Fortin magistrate tomorrow for having a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 machine gun and a total of 348 rounds of ammunition.

South Western Division police arrested the men on Friday at about 7 pm at a house in Icacos Village in Cedros.

Police searched the house during an anti-crime exercise and found the gun and ammunition hidden in a market bag. The three suspects, ages 20 to 25, were arrested at the scene.

Preliminary checks with the Immigration Department found that the men were in the country illegally.

They were taken to the Cedros Police Station for further enquiries and charges are expected to be laid later today.

The three were the latest of several Venezuelans recently held by police. Last Tuesday at a hotel in Los Iros in Erin, police arrested 11 illegal immigrants, among them eight Venezuelans. The arrest came after a video of people jumping off a boat and running to the beach, with bags in their hands, began circulating on Facebook.

Hours later police also arrested four Venezuelans who are illegal in the country in a car in Erin.