19 alleged gangsters walk free
Published:Wednesday | October 23, 2019 | 12:00 AM
Nineteen alleged members of the Westmoreland-based Dexter Street gang were yesterday released when they appeared in Kingston's Home Circuit Court.
The alleged gangsters - 15 males and four females - were charged for breaches of the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Act 2014, commonly referred to as the anti-gang legislation.
They were released after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions entered a nolle prosequi suspending the matter indefinitely.
While no reason for this decision was given in court, The Gleaner has been reliably informed that the prosecution’s main witness, who is a self-confessed member of the gang, has died.
The reputed gangsters have allegedly been linked to nearly 40 murders in western Jamaica since 2016.
In 2018, The Gleaner reported that the police believed that a shipment of 19 guns intercepted at the Kingston Container Terminal on November 17, 2017 was destined for the gang.
The weapons and nearly 4,000 assorted rounds of ammunition were found in two freezers at the port.
Acting deputy commissioner of police Fitz Bailey, who, at the time was in charge of the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime (C-TOC) Branch, said the arrests of the alleged gangsters "significantly disrupted" criminal activities in Westmoreland.
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