The number of persons detained since Sunday’s declaration of a State of Public Emergency in the St. Catherine North Police Division has increased to more than 300.
According to the latest figures, 350 persons were taken into custody, with most of them processed.
National Security Minister, Robert Montague, say several persons have been arrested on warrants, and more than 40 of the detainees are being held pending processing and further investigation.
Meanwhile, Montague, is urging residents of St. Catherine to be on the lookout for wanted persons seeking to escape police dragnets.
He said with the State of Public Emergency now in effect, members of the criminal network and elsewhere might want to hide among law-abiding citizens.
Montague who spoke with JIS News yesterday while visiting the Headquarters of the Jamaica Defence Force in St. Andrew, stressed that citizens must play their part in exposing areas where weapons are hidden and persons who are transporting them from communities now under the State of Public Emergency.