Police: Some legal firearms finding their way to criminals

POLICE from various units visited the businessplaces of two well-known firearms dealers in north and central Trinidad on Saturday as part of ongoing enquiries into the sale and distribution of guns.

Contacted for comment on Sunday, acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob confirmed that police investigators visited the two dealers ,but could not provide further details.

Speaking with Newsday, senior police sources said the visit to the dealers was made to answer further questions on where some weapons ended up.

The officer explained that legitimate firearms dealers imported weapons for sale to holders of firearm user's licences (FUL).

The officer said while the guns ordered by these dealers were sold to FUL holders, there were times when the guns reached criminals. While there were instances when guns were stolen from FUL holders, the officer said sometimes guns ordered by legitimate firearms dealers were sold to criminals or people without an FUL.

"What happens is, if we arrest someone with a gun, we will perform tracing to see where this gun came from.

"Sometimes we will see on record that the last person who had any interaction with a particular firearm is a licensed firearm dealer, so part of the exercise was to meet and speak with these dealers."

On Friday, a police media release reported that a 61-year-old firearms dealer was charged with three counts of possession of firearms possession and four counts of possession of explosives.

The investigation began when officers of the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) began an audit at a dealership in Aranguez.

They noted several irregularities and searched the dealer's home, where they allegedly found four explosive devices and three prohibited guns.

Another police media release reported that up to Saturday, 509 firearms had been seized from all ten police divisions.

Of this figure, 76 were high-powered rifles.

For the month of October, so far, 11 firearms have been seized.

In the latest seizures, a 27-year-old Marabella man was arrested by the Southern Division Task Force for the possession of an extended magazine containing 13 rounds of ammunition last Thursday. Police from the North Eastern Division Gang and Intelligence Unit then visited Marabella, where they found a Magnum revolver.

In an unrelated incident, police in the Eastern Division visited Palm Road, Valencia, on Friday where they found a Smith and Wesson revolver with five rounds of ammunition and later arrested a 24-year-old Mayaro man for the possession of four rounds of ammunition.