TWO GUNS, 30+ CRIME SCENES

Two guns that were seized by the police last year have been linked to more than 30 murders and shootings across several parishes over the last four years, senior law enforcement sources have revealed.

The guns – a Smith & Wesson revolver and a Beretta pistol – were linked through their unique ballistic signatures to forensic evidence collected at dozens of crime scenes, mainly across Clarendon, one investigator told The Sunday Gleaner.

“These guns did a lot of damage,” said the investigator.

Top police officials have declined to comment, citing ongoing investigations.

The disclosure coincides with a recent surge in illegal guns seized by the police, including over 40 pistols and high-powered assault rifles and hundreds of bullets confiscated in three major operations in the last 15 days.

Every year, hundreds of illegal guns, sourced primarily in the United States (US), are smuggled into Jamaica, putting more firepower in the hands of marauding gangsters responsible for hundreds of killings annually.

According to the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm (ATF), 316 or approximately 67 per cent of some 470 illegal guns seized in Jamaica in 2020 were either manufactured in the US (43.2 per cent) or legally imported there (23.7 per cent). The figures are based on the latest tracings conducted by the ATF.

There was not sufficient information for the ATF to determine a source country for the remaining 156 firearms submitted by Jamaican authorities.

Jamaica has recorded over 12,000 murders in the last decade, nearly 80 per cent of which involve the use of a gun, police statistics show.

Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Indiana and Texas are the top five US states from which guns are smuggled into the island, according to Jamaica’s deputy police commissioner Fitz Bailey. He did not provide any figures.

All five states received low marks for their “weak” gun laws in a recent survey conducted by Everytown for Gun Safety, a New York City-based think tank founded by former mayor and US presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.

Significant issue

The US Embassy in Kingston acknowledged that illegal arms trafficking is a “significant issue” throughout the Caribbean, but sidestepped questions about measures implemented at American border crossings to stem the flow of guns into Jamaica.

“We have a very strong international cooperation with Jamaica on attacking transnational criminal organisations and there are a variety of ways that we are working with the Government of Jamaica to control the flow of illegal arms,” the embassy said in an email response to The Sunday Gleaner last Thursday.

There was no response from Jamaica’s national security ministry up to late yesterday to questions emailed last Tuesday about measures implemented at the borders to tackle illegal gun trafficking.

Tracing the history of the two guns linked to multiple killings and shootings in central Jamaica and how they entered the island is almost impossible, investigators said.

“We normally try that, but it’s extremely difficult. Our borders are so porous, it could be anywhere,” said one detective, making reference to increasing use of informal points of entry used to smuggle weapons from Haiti under the drug-for-guns trade.

Part of the issue, too, according to Wilfred Rattigan, a Jamaica-born former US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) special agent, is a loophole in a lot of the gun laws enacted by several states.

“That loophole is gun shows. They don’t adhere to the same rules as somebody who is legally authorised [to trade in firearms],” Rattigan said.

Noting that proponents have defended these shows as points of trade, Rattigan, who was born in Waterhouse, St Andrew, believes it’s much more than that.

“You can actually purchase weapons there and there is no actual paperwork,” he said, pointing out that this issue was more pronounced in southern states.

The two guns were among three firearms that were seized on March 30 last year after the police intercepted a car transporting five men – including a 17-year-old – believed to be members of a ruthless gang based in Clarendon.

The serial number of the other firearm was erased.

One of the men pleaded guilty last September to his roles in at least 11 murders dating back to 2017 as well as illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. He is now serving a 25-year prison sentence.

He admitted to police investigators that his roles included hiring hitmen, purchasing guns for the gang, driving contract killers to their intended targets, and ensuring that they were paid.

The teen, who is a suspected contract killer, and the other three men are all awaiting trial for their alleged involvement in 12 contract and reprisal killings in the southern Clarendon communities of Sedge Pond, Lionel Town, Haysfield, Raymonds, and Springfield.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com