News

COPS SELL GUNS TOO!

[EDITORS NOTE: THE STAR investigations into the selling of guns and ammunition by police started in September 2004. A number of locations were visited where the apparent transaction of illegal gun sale was seen. Yesterday (see story below) the Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas made public the reality that members of the police force were distributing ammunution to the underworld. Today we tell you that cops sell guns too!]

IT APPEARS THAT several police officers have been making a killing earning thousands of dollars from the sale of illegal ammunition and firearms, including high powered weapons, STAR investigations have unearthed.

The officers sell these illegal weapons, mostly handguns, at very attractive prices to persons in the criminal underworld, who then resell or use the weapons in their criminal activities, the investigations have discovered.

The investigations have also revealed that some high-ranking policemen are involved in these illicit activities, but there was nothing to suggest that several of these illegal transactions, some of which were witnessed in and outside of the Corporate Area by THE STAR news teams, were connected in any way.

"Anytime we want a gun we just check the legal gunman dem and dem line up we arsonery," one 'gun dealer', who bought his gun from police officers, told THE STAR.

"We nuh haffi go through nuh license. We nah fi tell dem what we want it fah and nuh bady nah come search out weh we live and if we hav' no safe a we yard, dem just hand over the merchandise and we hand ova di cash."

THE STAR's investigations led the team to an area in the West Central St. Andrew constituency where we got a first hand view of these illegal sales.

Marked vehicles

Two marked police vehicles ­ a car and a jeep ­ drove up, to what was apparently a popular hang-out in the area, and were approached by two men who had been waiting in a heavily tinted Mark II motorcar. The men, one very stout and thick, the other skinny with a lot of jewellery, walked over to four men, two in plain clothes, the others in denim clothes like those sometimes worn by the police.

The denim-clad men led them to the rear of the car. From where we sat watching a game of dominoes, we could see one of the 'cops' take out a long leather bag, open it and show a 12 gauge shotgun.

Without any regard for persons who may have been looking, the gun was handed to the stout man, who checked it, put it back in the bag and also looked into about four other leather cases.

He nodded his head, took the cases and placed them in the trunk of the Mark II while the other man wrote what appeared to be a cheque and handed it to one of the policemen.

After the transaction, the men chatted for a while before the slim built man pulled a chrome firearm from his waist and handed it to one of the policemen who examined it, handed it back and punched the man's fist.

After a few minutes, the men and the three cars disappeared in different directions. Residents later said such exchanges were commonplace in the community and had not surprised them one bit.

Deputy Superintendent Miguel Wynter, head of the Office of Professional Responsibilities, said his office was not investigating any police officer for being involved in the sale of illegal firearms and ammunition.

"I am not aware of any such investigations," Wynter told THE STAR last February.

His sentiments were echoed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Granville Gause, head of the Bureau of Special Investigations.

"The BSI don't have any such matter investigating," Gause also said last February.

Other incident

In another incident, this time in a rural district in Manchester, we witnessed a group of men approach a vehicle which stopped a few metres from a street dance. Two men in plain clothes ­ one with a police vest ­ got out of the vehicle and looked around suspiciously before greeting some other men.

As they congregated near the service vehicle, one of the men who arrived in the police vehicle, pulled out a firearm from his waist and showed it to the men. One of them examined it, took out the empty magazine and pushed it back in. He then aimed at nothing in particular and pretended to fire.

"Yuh just dead p...y," he said. "Move man cause when yuh fi use it yuh nah," his friend said, as he took the weapon.

"A hope dah one yah no stick stick like the odda one dem yuh sell we," the man said to the men who had been in the police car.

"No man. That a di best one me tek from the one dem we find inna di raid," one of the men replied. "But some chrisas soon come but a nuff more money dat, yuh hear sah."

With that said, one of the men pulled a coil of money from his pocket and quickly handed it over. "Yow, unno nuh use it round ya suh yuh nuh, unno go outa port with dat," one of the men warned as the other counted the cash and the men headed back to the dance.