Police intend to step up their efforts to recover illegal guns, the weapon of choice used to commit murders, and called for more to be done to stop them from reaching the shores. This after another overnight killing and the death of a man in hospital from gunshot injuries pushed the murder toll to 31 for the year, surpassing last year’s comparable figure of 24 by seven.
At a press briefing yesterday at Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain, police boasted of a $6 million drug seizure and recovery of two more illegal guns.
Police Information Officer ASP Micheal Pierre said the police officers have intensified their efforts to get guns off the streets and boasted that the results speak for themselves as they have already recovered 50 guns in 20 days while for the same period last year, 16 guns had been recovered.
But the dent in the illegal gun supply seemed to be minimal as more illegal guns enter the country through the porous borders, officers admitted. Pierre said although the police have exceeded the number of guns seized for the year by 200 per cent compared to last year, more guns make their way into the hands of killers.
“Despite the seizure of firearms, we still have a high amount of murders in the country. The TTPS has increased its efforts in the seizure of firearms and ammunition but we recognise the connection between firearms coming through our borders and the murder rate. Therefore, it is imperative that our borders are protected,” Pierre said.
Asked whether those mandated with that task, the Coast Guard and other arms of the Defence Force, should be blamed for failing to stop the influx of guns, Pierre repeated that the borders were porous and that the Police Service was not responsible for that.
“We have 31 murders to date as opposed to 24 for the same date last year and we have seized 50 guns for the year compared to 16 for the same period last year.
“What this suggests is there is a proliferation of firearms coming into the country which is a challenge to the TTPS. The seizure of firearms for last year were 671 as compared to 585 in 2014, showing a constant increase of firearms in the country.
“The Police Service have aligned the increase of firearms to our porous borders... we do not have the capacity to close the borders what we do have is the capacity to deal with the land,” Pierre said.
Contacted yesterday public affairs officer of the Coast Guard, Lieutenant Commander Kirk Jean-Baptiste, said his members worked assiduously with all other agencies in stopping the illegal importation of guns and drugs. He added that the gun trade was married to the drug trade. Jean-Baptiste added that for the year the Coast Guard has seized four guns.
While the figure is small compared to that of the police, Jean-Baptiste said one reason was that gun and drug smugglers dumped their illegal cargo whenever they were spotted. He added that guns were the first to go overboard as they sank the fastest.
Told that the porous borders are being blamed for the increase in guns and gun related violence mostly murders Jean-Baptiste said:
“This is a joint effort with the arms of the Ministry of National Security which is intelligence-driven. I will not be engaging in any tit-for-tat. We do work side-by-side.
Latest murders
The two latest victims of gun violence are Al Mohammed and Jean-Pierre Assee. Mohammed, 24, according to police, was a suspect in several shooting in the Western Division but was never charged because of a lack of evidence.
Police said around 6.30 pm on Tuesday, Mohammed was with a woman along Sagram Street, Petit Valley, when a gunman approached him and opened fire. The killer then ran off leaving the hysterical woman unharmed.
Assee, 30, a car dealer, was shot at least ten times in December last year and died Tuesday night at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Centre.
Assee, of Sierra Vista Drive, Omera Road, Arima, was outside his business at Ramcharan Street, St Augustine, with Dave John, 48, and 11-year-old Kadeem Whiskey when a car drove by and opened fire. John was shot in the right hip and Whiskey in the right ear.