Flood of illegal ammo hits Ja

Erica Virtue, Staff Reporter

MORE than 35,000 assorted rounds of illegal bullets have been seized by the police in the last four years and more than 10 times that number is believed to be in the hands of criminal elements wreaking havoc on the nation, burdened by the heavy weight of crime.

The Police Statistic Division said since January this year, law enforcement officers have seized 5,283 assorted rounds of ammunition, a figure which has already surpassed last year's total of 5,097. The previous year some 5,799 rounds were recovered and in 1998, the long arm of the law hauled in 19,659 rounds.

The police claim that the gun using the least rounds is the .38 revolver. The 9mm semi-automatic uses 14 rounds and the M16 assault rifle uses 30 rounds and all three are in the hands of criminals.

According to the lawmen, the ease with which ammunition is available has been linked to its heavy usage in criminal acts. Bodies are sometimes riddled with 15 and 20 bullets at a time, as gunmen go on shooting rampages across the island. Hundreds of rounds have been discharged at dances in celebration, in shoot-outs, in communities to intimidate and elsewhere to commit murder.

But the police have their hands full in their efforts to collect the illegal bullets on the island's streets. Raids and roadblocks have turned up many.

To assist the officers searching for guns and ammunition are 16 specially-trained sniffer dogs which were despatched to the Canine Division. Twelve were acquired by the Government last year for $1.8 million to assist in the search for guns, ammunitions and drugs.

Two Colombians were also brought into the island by the Ministry of National Security and Justice to train dogs and handlers at the Canine Division of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. The two officers, from the Colombian Police Force, began training at the Harman Barracks in November 2000 and ended February this year. Their area of speciality is training dogs to detect weapons, including explosives, via passive sniffing.

And in a previous interview with The Sunday Gleaner, Inspector Clement Wright at the Canine Division said the dogs were serving as a deterrent.

"We haven't seen an increase in detection and we can't say if there has been a reduction but the dogs probably serve as a deterrent to persons," he said.

But, the easy access to Jamaica, according to former Police Commissioner Trevor MacMillan, is because of an absence of technology to detect it at ports of entry.

"Technology is our best attempt to stem the flow. Then we can concentrate efforts on patrolling more than 200 miles of unprotected shorelines in the island which invites both guns and ammunition," Colonel MacMillan told The Sunday Gleaner last week.

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