Immediately after he stepped off the charter flight, which arrived with 76 deportees from the United States, Robert O'Riley Cole, a former police constable, was handcuffed by two sergeants from the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI).

The subofficers were awaiting his arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.

"This is an ex-policeman who has been on the run since October 2001," head of the BSI, Assistant Commissioner Granville Gause, disclosed last night.

Cole, 37, was among 71 men and five women escorted by US marshals from the Louisiana Immigration Centre. According to Gause, he was implicated in a shooting incident which took place in Seaview Gardens, St Andrew, on June 15, 2000.

Court next week

Four men were shot, two fatally. The matter was investigated by the BSI which submitted the file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Cole was ruled to be charged with two counts of murder and two counts of wounding with intent.

Those killed were identified as Clifford Knight, 40, alias 'Mice', and 19-year-old Omar Campbell, alias 'Rat'. Cole will be taken before the court next week.

Gause explained that he was nabbed as a result of the collaboration between the local police and Interpol.

"This is an example to show that when they have been ruled to be charged by the DPP, no matter how long they run for, we never stop looking for them and, wherever they are, we are going to bring them back," he said.

Up to last week, the BSI said it had at least 23 outstanding warrants for police personnel on the run.

"Just last week, we locked up a special constable who the DPP ruled to be charged with wounding with intent," Gause told The Gleaner.

glenroy.sinclair@gleanerjm.com