Intelligence fuelling firearm finds, says police chief

Communications surveillance is being used by the police and their international partners to intercept organised crime, including the shipment of illegal guns, but Jamaica’s police chief has sought to downplay the scale of its use in intelligence gathering.

Quizzed on whether a series of gun finds was linked to increased army and international-partner surveillance through wiretapping, Major General Antony Anderson said on Tuesday that there was minimal reliance on that tool.

The Interception of Communications Act gives Anderson, as head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and Rear Admiral Antonette Wemyss Gorman, the army chief, the power to authorise the interception of a network to tap communication during transmission.

Anderson said the police do work with overseas partners, including the United States (US), which sometimes detect the movements of guns destined for the island and will intercept the shipment.

He said if those partners are unable to disrupt shipments, the information is passed on to local law enforcement to act.

“A lot of the recoveries we’ve had though, especially in recent weeks, have been related to police operations and our own home-grown intelligence within the various agencies that exist within Jamaica that gather on such matters,” said Anderson during a press conference.

“Our responses are really to that enhanced intelligence, which is really an all-source intelligence gathering and analysis apparatus – both human and technological.”

He said efforts are ongoing with international partners to respond to transnational crimes, with six extradition requests coming from the US for lottery scammers and persons associated with the illicit drug trade, including money laundering, and sex crimes.

Two people have returned to the island on extradition warrants from the US.

The commissioner said calls to Crime Stop have increased by 98 per cent over last year.

He said up to May 31, the police seized 320 illegal firearms, compared with 314 recorded last year, representing a two per cent increase in seizures.

The police commissioner said there has been a 42 per cent increase in the seizure of ammunition, with 6,379 rounds recorded since January when compared to the 4,483 seized last year.

For the first week of June, he said 27 illegal firearms have been seized, three times the nine netted for the corresponding period last year.

Included in that figure are the nine guns, including three M16 assault rifles, seized in a Fitz Bailey-led operation along the North-South Highway on June 4.

The other weapons include five 9mm pistols and a revolver.

More than 440 assorted rounds of ammunition were also seized after police teams, led by the deputy commissioner, reportedly intercepted a motor vehicle near the highway exit in Ewarton, St Catherine.

Three men were taken into custody.

The guns and ammunition were cleared from the wharf earlier in the day and were being transported to Trelawny, The Gleaner was reliably informed.

On Tuesday, the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) and the Financial Investigations Division (FID) signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening both organisations’ responses to money laundering, organised crime, fraud, and financial crimes.

Both organisations are expected to provide each other with intelligence in various forms. The JCA will provide the FID with access to customs areas, among other things, while the FID will offer technical support, training, and proper management of cash seizure investigations to the JCA.

In the meantime, murders are up 6.3 per cent, robberies 2.4 per cent, and break-ins 6.9 per cent up to May, Anderson said, with shootings and rape down 8.5 per cent and 15.7 per cent, respectively.

Overall major crime has dipped by 0.2 per cent.