With 12 guns recovered for the year, four during the Carnival period and over 300 in the past two years, the head of the Northern Division Senior Supt David Abraham has labelled his area as a gun hot spot.
During a media briefing at the Maloney Police Station yesterday, Abraham thanked both his officers and the public for their roles in recovering over 300 illegal weapons and said he was concerned that the number of guns found in his division although it was not surrounded by water and guns were not manufactured locally.
“I am telling all those who are involved in criminal activity to put down the guns and turn your life around away from crime. Make a change because we will be arresting you and coming after you” Abraham threatened.
Also at the briefing was ACP Surajdeen Persad in charge of Northern, Eastern and North-Eastern Divisions, who said the police would try to not only make the division and by extension the country free of crime but also of the fear of crime through their patrols and door-to-door policing. He added that they would be targeting those in the illegal narcotics trade.
Abraham said for the Carnival weekend the police seized four guns, including an AK-47, a 9mm pistol and two sho guns, one of which was homemade. The officers also seized 19 rounds of assorted ammunition.
For the Carnival period, 31 people were arrested, eight for drunk driving, three for narcotics, eight for possession of weapons and the rest for outstanding warrants and other offences.
Concerning the guns, two people—a 63-year-old man and a 24-year-old man—were held in separate instances for a shotgun and the pistol.