WESTERN BUREAU:

Local investigators probing Wednesday's arms find at the Montego Freeport are to collaborate with their law enforcement counterparts in the United States to pursue stronger leads into the incident.

"We have already initiated contact with them (in the U.S.) to see whether we can identify where the guns were bought, and who shipped them ... because they are brand-new items," Superintendent Steve McGregor, head of the St. James Police Division, told The Gleaner, yesterday.

Eight illegal firearms

The police recovered eight illegal firearms consisting of four AK-47 rifles, an M-16 rifle, a Ruger Carbine .44 rifle, a Glock pistol, a Smith and Wesson Magnum revolver along with 1,090 rounds of ammunition inside two barrels at the Seaboard Jamaica warehouse, at the Montego Freeport.

Twenty assorted magazines and telescopic lenses were also recovered during the operation, which was conducted about 3:40 p.m.

The Gleaner understands that the two men detained in connection with the arms find are employed to warehouses at the port facility, which is being closely monitored by the lawmen.

The barrels in which the arms were found were said to have contained only motor vehicle parts and were reportedly addressed to persons residing in the parishes of St. Ann and St. James.

"From our initial investigations, we have found that most of the cargo is now being sent through the two external warehouses at Montego Freeport to avoid in-depth scanning palette machines," Supt. McGregor commented after the incident.