AN ARSENAL of close to 100 brand-new high-powered firearms and hundreds of assorted ammunition were confiscated by the police in Haiti just over a week ago, and Jamaican law-enforcement authorities have indicated that several of them were destined for Jamaica’s criminal underworld.
In a photograph obtained exclusively by The Gleaner, Haitian police and military personnel were seen inspecting several of the weapons, which included automatic rifles and handguns.
Jamaica’s police chief Dr Carl Williams has revealed that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has taken “great interest” in the arms find, even as he lauded the Haitian police for the seizure.
“That’s not something that we can take credit for, but we are very happy about the seizure because it is very possible that many of those weapons would have ended up here in Jamaica,” Williams told The Gleaner yesterday.
Fears that the weapons were headed for local shores, according to Williams and other top law-enforcement insiders, were fuelled by reports from the Haitian police that they were confiscated in an area frequented by criminals involved in the guns-for-drugs trade between Jamaica and its Caribbean neighbour.
“We know that that is one of the points from which weapons are shipped to Jamaica,” the police commissioner said.
Williams indicated that he saw photographs of the arms cache and acknowledged that the amount was significant.
“It is a whole lot a weapons. I saw the photographs and there were a lot of weapons,” he emphasised.
“Based on our experience, they look to be brand new, and some of them were in packages.”
Since the start of the year, 919 murders were recorded across the 19 police divisions islandwide up to September 23, an increase of 2.6 per cent when compared with the 896 murders recorded over the corresponding period last year.
According to the police, close to 60 per cent of those killings involved the use of guns.
In addition, police statistics show that since January 1, just over 200 murders were recorded in St James alone, the second straight year that the parish has surpassed the 200-murder mark. St Catherine recorded 147 murders, while the Clarendon police have reported 107 killings so far this year.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Warren Clarke, head of the Area Four Police, has blamed the deadly lottery scam and the guns-for-drug trade for the proliferation of guns, not only in St James, but across the country, which he said play a significant factor in the crime wave.
Clarke, who was speaking during an interview with a Gleaner special assignment team that visited Montego Bay recently, said purchasing firearms has become the first order of business for persons involved in lottery scamming.
“When they have the proceeds of scamming or drug trafficking, a gun seems to be the first item they equip themselves with, and because there are so much proceeds flowing from these illegal activities, then there are a lot of guns and ammunition that go with them,” he reasoned.
Clarke added, “I accept that there are more illegal guns in St James than we are comfortable.”
The FBI is stationed in Jamaica for a reason. We are going to see an influx of weapons being shipped to Jamaica. This sad bad.
Met is Hatie flooding Jamaica with Gun for food they trade . From what i heard on the sea every weekend is boat run to hatie for guns. God not sleeping they infested Jamaica with AIDS and Guns no worry them soon wipe out off this earth.
Your statement is reckless and irresponsible.
Look pan Haiti weh barely a survive…. A dat mi country pick it caah Betta den…. neva! From di one Obama go dung deh a don’t trust dat.
Dem a turn JA in a war zone, it soon come in like Libya with the amount of guns dem a bring een… It is all about the gun trade and money… Who manufacturer these guns? Guess.. Who is selling these guns? GUESS.. Yes there is One Big Main culprit who cause the most wars on this planet and sells the most weapons as the more fighting the more weapons/gun sales…
HELL AWAITS THEM!!!
Good job authorities seized them lock up dem rass
This is why Matthew f*** them , he should do. Ore that what he did down there in Haiti
If di police dem really want put an end to this gun for drugs business dem wudda reach up a St Thomas pon di sea side cuz that is where you find the Haitians & Jamaicans conducting business. Most of the illegal guns that are in Jamaica right now haffi pass through St Thomas in order fi reach dem destination. St Thomas is a hot spot for the Haitians.
Is only St. Thomas have water way? The duty Haitian dem fi just kin ova an dung.
The trade is gun fi weed and coke, and Rocky Point, Clarendon is more a hot spot than St. Thomas, the Cays and Portland…
This is why Matthew f**k them , he should do.more that what he did down there in Haiti
@Anonymous 2:45pm and Latty!,,,,,,, while i do understand and sympathize with your sentiments its not fair or orthodox to lambast HAITI as the main culprit! yes a lot of the guns that is infiltrating jamaica comes from haiti, but bare in mind that its not only narcotics that enter jamaica in seedboats from columbia and other central american countries, and its not fair to draw out st.thomas as the rogue parish when you have parishes like st. elizabeth & manchester that pretend like they are “goody 2 shoes” and they’re geographically located diagonally across from those said countries in central & south america, a lot of guns and other illicit goods enter jamaica from that side also, but you hardly hear much about those parishes why? because those illicit activities are smooth operations run by those same light-skin, white-looking people who originated from those parishes and most of whom are high society people who walk with their nose in the air and pretend like their doo-doo can make patty or their poop is fragrance, because the illicit trade from haiti via st. Thomas is mostly facilitated by men with big lips and hair like burr-bush then the propoganda is all the guns that are causing mayhem in jamaica right now comes from haiti via st. thomas and its not fair! @ Anonymous 2:45pm, I DESPISE & PEEVE AT YOUR COMMENT ABOUT HAITI BRINGING AIDS TO JAMAICA! THE VERY SAME PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT AIDS TO HAITI ARE THE VERY SAME ONES WHO BROUGHT IT TO JAMAICA! TOUR-ISTS
People keep pointing fingers at the haitian, but more guns come into Jamaica through our ports than through drug/food for gun trade. The overseas-based gangsters (and wannabe gangsters) have being sending guns back to Jamaica from far back as the 1980s.
Some of the same men featured on this site are guilty of shipping guns back to Jamaica to fight wars within the same ghetto they originated from. Just go to any of the gun shows and you see them in high numbers buying high powered weapons.
LATTY Y U CUSS OBAMA, U REALLY A FLOG HIM BOUT GUNS AND THE SENATE A FIGHT HIM FROM OTHER END NO REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW?? DEM BWOY YA WICKED AS ANON SAID FROM 1980S TILL DEM GET THEM WAY OF GETTIN THEIR OWN SUPPLY BUT IF IT NO KILL DEM IT GOIN KILL SMDDY FI DEM, SORRY FI MASH CORN BUT 20YRS NOW HAITI AIDS TING TUN UP A JAMAICAN LOVE CASH LOSE HER LIFE HE PURPOSELY INFECT HER, FROM PJ TELL ARISTIDE TO COME HERE DEM FOLLOW HIM AND ALL THE GUZUM AND BLOOD DRAINING START DEM MARRIED AND FASTEN DEMSELF IN JA
ASK ANY YARDIE HOW DEM BITCHY IN STRIP CLUBS A MIAMI AGAINST JAMAICANS OVA CUSTOMERS, BUS UP YARDIE HEAD. DEM NO LIKE SEE JAMAICANS MEK MONEY. CHAT PPL IN DEM CREOLE A HAITIAN A SPEN MONEY WITH ME THE HAITIAN GAL GO TEL THE BOUNCER HOW THE, BWOY PANTS FRONT OPEN SHE KNEW CAUSE SHE JUST DANCE FOR HIM, HIM DONE WID HER AND CALL ME AND MI JUS THROW MI TOWEL AND MOUNT LIKE A JOCKEY, A SHE ALONE FI GET MONEY, BOUNCER CHARGE MI $45 WITHOUT VERIFYING, MI JUS TEK MI BAG FDRAG N A SHORTS AND LEFT CAUS I WAS GOIN JA THE NX DAY,THE BARMAID TELL THE MGR AN HE SAID I MUST COME BACK A THE CLUB, IN ANY WUK PLACE THEM TERRIBLE GAINST US
What an interesting read. I have a feeling you have a lot of stories to share. Please share as you dare.
Den even Devon Samuels never did a send home gun when him get ketch. Back in di day as the others said, a private plane used to come a JA all inna di 2-3AM full a all kind of evil tings. Private boat same way. Mi rich aunty get fi har come up dat way. She a walk and prance now wid big business and mi see har picha inna paper a do charitable works and is how much boat shipment a tings meck shi ketch weh shi ketch, while mi know weed fi sure, mi nuh know bout guns in fi har case, though mi won’t put it pass dem cause a dem seh rich by any means necessary. Next generation won’t know dat though, dem will come seh a hard work and ambition give her what shi got :ngakak :ngakak
Mi a stay teck een Tory while mi parents still alive cause when dem gone who gwine meck mi know all di juicy tales. Pickney siddung a unno granny foot and teck teachment suh di history nuh lost :bedug :salahkamar
A lot of the comments in here are baseless. Haitians are not the only ones contaminating Jamaica with guns, JAMAICANS abroad are doing the same thing. I have been told that my own family members supply inner city ghetto yutes with guns and guess what? They’re Jamaicans living in the states, England and Canada. Stop the bashing of Haitians and learn to live in peace and harmony. How can any of us place blame on Haiti for the AIDS epidemic in Jamaica? How ignorant can we be? AIDS did not start in Haiti, Haitians didn’t get up and decide to give Jamaicans AIDS. Stop the nonsense man. It hurts me to see my fellow Jamaicans speaking so ill of our neighbors. Chill out. Let’s stop promoting division and start endorsing unity among each other. Haiti needs prayers; not condemnation. Haiti and its people are beautiful. The propaganda which have been spread on Haiti is damaging, no wonder the nation is under constant suppression. #GodBlessHaiti