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Gun left in police custody seized from gunmen
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
SLEUTHS from the Anti-Corruption Branch and the Inspectorate of the Constabulary last night launched an intense probe into how a pistol which was handed over to the Police Armoury and Stores for destruction was seized by the St Andrew North police yesterday.
The 9mm Beretta and a magazine containing five 9mm rounds, were back in police custody after cops held two men and recovered the illegal weapon along Sunrise Crescent, off Red Hills Road.
The men, who were arrested, are set to be questioned by police today.
Police said they ran ballistics checks on the pistol and found that the weapon was taken from a man in St Ann in 2002. The man was found guilty and convicted for illegal possession of a firearm in 2003.
The pistol was sent to the Police Armoury and Stores for destruction but found its way back on the streets in the hands of criminals.
Cops from the Inspectorate of the Constabulary are still conducting an audit at the armoury, which has been ordered closed and sealed off by Acting Commissioner Owen Ellington after police seized 19 guns, 10,600 rounds of assorted ammunition and police vests at two premises in East Kingston earlier this month. Police say arms were stolen from the armoury.
Last week, a highly placed police source told the Observer that ballistic tests had proven that some gun murders had been committed with weapons which were assigned to the armoury.
The source blasted the outdated security procedures at the armoury, citing a lack of security cameras and a less than desirable secure entry system.
Five persons, including police sergeant Russell Robinson, businessman Garnet Pellington and civilian workers at the armoury, David Blagrove and Charles Morris, were arrested earlier this month after the massive arms and ammunition find.
The fifth suspect handed himself over to the police on Saturday.
More than 10,000 murders have been committed in Jamaica in the last decade. More than 75 per cent of those killings were committed with guns
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
SLEUTHS from the Anti-Corruption Branch and the Inspectorate of the Constabulary last night launched an intense probe into how a pistol which was handed over to the Police Armoury and Stores for destruction was seized by the St Andrew North police yesterday.
The 9mm Beretta and a magazine containing five 9mm rounds, were back in police custody after cops held two men and recovered the illegal weapon along Sunrise Crescent, off Red Hills Road.
The men, who were arrested, are set to be questioned by police today.
Police said they ran ballistics checks on the pistol and found that the weapon was taken from a man in St Ann in 2002. The man was found guilty and convicted for illegal possession of a firearm in 2003.
The pistol was sent to the Police Armoury and Stores for destruction but found its way back on the streets in the hands of criminals.
Cops from the Inspectorate of the Constabulary are still conducting an audit at the armoury, which has been ordered closed and sealed off by Acting Commissioner Owen Ellington after police seized 19 guns, 10,600 rounds of assorted ammunition and police vests at two premises in East Kingston earlier this month. Police say arms were stolen from the armoury.
Last week, a highly placed police source told the Observer that ballistic tests had proven that some gun murders had been committed with weapons which were assigned to the armoury.
The source blasted the outdated security procedures at the armoury, citing a lack of security cameras and a less than desirable secure entry system.
Five persons, including police sergeant Russell Robinson, businessman Garnet Pellington and civilian workers at the armoury, David Blagrove and Charles Morris, were arrested earlier this month after the massive arms and ammunition find.
The fifth suspect handed himself over to the police on Saturday.
More than 10,000 murders have been committed in Jamaica in the last decade. More than 75 per cent of those killings were committed with guns
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