Dexter Street Gang linked to major gun bust, 17 members charged

Livern Barrett, Senior Gleaner Writer 

The police have revealed that the shipment of 19 guns intercepted at the Kingston Container Terminal on November 17 last year was destined for the Westmoreland-based Dexter Street Gang.

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey, that's when the gang landed on the police's radar.

The weapons and nearly 4,000 assorted rounds of ammunition were found in two freezers at the port.

Bailey, the head of the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Division Branch (C-TOC), provided the update at a press conference this morning while revealing that another four members of the gang have been arrested, pushing to 17 the number of alleged members of the criminal network now behind bars.

The alleged gangsters - 13 males and four females - have been charged under the so-called anti-gang legislation and are scheduled to appear before the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston shortly.

The gangsters have allegedly been linked to nearly 40 murders in western Jamaica in the past 17 months and Bailey said their arrests have since "significantly disrupted" criminal activities.

"The gang is responsible for or linked to over 17 murders and 27 shooting incidents in 2017," Bailey told journalists during the press conference.

"Since the beginning of the year, 22 murders and several shootings have also been linked to this gang," he said.

The gangsters were arrested between last week Tuesday and Saturday during a series of operations by the security forces.

However, Bailey said the man believed to be the leader of the gang and its main financier, Shadane Patrick Robinson, also known as Gorgan, remains on the run.

According to the C-TOC boss, Robinson was charged with murder and granted bail and is believed to have fled the island for the United States.

He said investigators believe that two other members of the gang who are wanted by the police -- Oshane Rankine, also called Shabba, and Juwayne Barnes, alias Spent Shell -- have also fled to the US.

We want to hear from you! Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-449-0169, email us at editors@gleanerjm.com or onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com.