EDITORIAL - Reeling in the big fish

This newspaper will adopt a wait-and-see attitude towards recent police operations in St James aimed at shutting down the criminals behind the pervasive lottery scam that has flourished in western Jamaica since 2007. The most recent operations have resulted in the arrest of two supposedly 'prominent' citizens of the Second City whose identities have not yet been released.

Our cautionary approach comes about after similar ballyhoo when two prominent citizens of Montego Bay, described by the police as "major players" in the lottery scam, were scooped up with others in a dramatic daylight raid in July 2012. As it turned out, the police were left with egg on their faces, because the two men walked free a few weeks after their dramatic arrest, with one of them even threatening to sue the State for false arrest and reputational damage.

Truthfully, the local police have a very weak record when it comes to snaring the big fish in the illegal pond. They talk a good deal about targeting the masterminds and reeling in the big fish, but, for the most part, it remains just that: talk. Calls for the extradition of lotto scammers to the United States harden the stance of cynics who suggest that Jamaica finds it difficult to clean up its mess and is looking to someone else to do so. Why can't we deal with our home-grown criminals?

After the Montego Bay arrest fiasco, police credibility took another battering. And up to now, they have not explained how they got it so wrong. They have not told the country what were the circumstances which led them to take such action against men who were part of the municipal government and connected to the ruling People's National Party and against whom they apparently had no evidence.

WAITING FOR TANGIBLE RESULTS

So we would rather hold the applause this time around until the arrests are tested in a court of law. The fact that the administration has swiftly pushed through anti-scamming legislation to hand out harsh punishment is not being cheered by everyone. There are still people who are seduced into thinking that the lottery money represents salvation for the poor, oppressed people, and that the operators are not hurting anyone. In other words, if elderly, often demented Americans are stupid enough to pay out money in a lottery they did not even buy, so be it.

The new legislation aimed at scammers is also casting a wide net to reel in facilitators and bagmen who collaborate with the scammers, especially in their business enterprises. The hope is that the police investigators will be guided by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in order to ensure the cases are airtight and can be successfully prosecuted.

A largely ignored fact is that more than 300 Jamaicans have allegedly been murdered because they were somehow implicated in the lottery scam. Additionally, the entire country has been maligned because of the scamming activities.

As the Government moves to fight this scourge, there needs to be honest engagement with community leaders, for, whatever views people have about this lottery scam, we should be united in protecting Jamaica's good name. What can be more embarrassing than listening to the tales of woe of elderly persons who were duped out of their entire life savings by fellow Jamaicans?

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.