St James police targeting wanted gangsters
Published:Friday | June 21, 2024 | 12:09 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
With 12 men listed on the St James police’s most wanted list ignoring an appeal to report to the police, Superintendent Eron Samuels, the parish’s commander, has launched an initiative to apprehend them.
On the first day of the initiative, Deputy Superintendent of Police Linroy Edwards, who is head of operations for the parish, said four men who were wanted for various crimes committed across the parish were arrested. However, none of them was among the most wanted 12. However, Edwards is confident that those will be found in short order.
Under the initiative, significant attention will be focused on the parish’s traditional crime hotspots, where gang feuds have spawned numerous murders while disrupting the lives of law-abiding citizens.
“We will be targeting every community where gangs are affiliated such as Glendevon, Salt Spring, Green Pond, Rose Heights, Barnett Street, Granville, Flankers, and Tucker,” said Edwards, who is urging residents to cooperate with the police and help them to locate the wanted men.
“Anywhere they are, just tell us. We’ll go and get them any time – night or day. It’s about time,” he appealed.
Following the recent killing of Collin ‘On Cock’ Walters, an alleged enforcer from the 13 Street Gang in Tucker, near Montego Bay, and Ackeem ‘Rizzla’ Brown, leader of Dump Gang, which is based in Retirement, Samuels said the police would prefer to take in the gangsters rather than kill them in gunfights.
“We are urging all the wanted men across the parish to turn themselves in to the police as we are taking a zero-tolerance approach against lawlessness,” he said.
Most wanted
Among the 12 most wanted are Joseph ‘Jayo’ McKenzie, wanted for a murder committed in Flankers on August 2, 2023; Lico ‘Junior’ Maxwell, wanted for murder and wounding with intent, committed on September 4, 2022; Omoy ‘Not Nice’ Largie, wanted for a murder committed on July 15, 2023, in Top Hill, Mount Carey; Shaquille Nathaniel Brown, wanted for the murder of Romario ‘Bigga’ Chin, who was killed on April 18, 2019; Keston ‘Pablo’ Bertrand, wanted for a murder committed on March 19, 2023, at a guest house in Montego Bay; Shane ‘Okay’ Morgan, wanted for a murder committed on October 24, 2020, in Porto Bello; and an unknown man, who is wanted for a murder committed on March 11, 2024, on Fish Lane in Montego Bay.
The four men arrested were not identified by the police for security reasons. They are expected to be questioned in the presence of their legal representatives. Following that exercise, a decision will be taken as to whether they will be charged for the crimes they are suspected of committing, or released.
St James is currently the nation’s most murderous parish since the start of the year, registering 58 murders between January and May 26, which is substantially more than all other police divisions.