- Rudolph BrownMembers of the Second Battalion of the Jamaica Defence Force bring in suspects held during yesterday's police and military operation in the Land Lease area of St. Andrew.
Erica Virtue, Staff Reporter
A MASSIVE police and military ground and air operation in the Land Lease squatter community area of St. Andrew since 8:00 p.m, Friday night and into Saturday morning, left one member of the notorious "Joel Andem Gang" dead, and at least 11 detained for questioning.
Assistant Commissioner Tony Hewitt who led the operation along with Senior Superintendent Donald Pusey, said the more than 100 men were there to flush out between 20-25 members of the gang. Personnel from the Second Battalion of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) ground troops and Air Wing, the police Mobile Reserve, St. Andrew Central, Flying Squad and Special Anti-Crime Task Force (SACTF) also made up the team.
Up to 11:00 a.m., yesterday when The Sunday Gleaner visited the area, the police and military were still combing the rocky terrain, which is perched above the middle-class neighbourhood of Hope Pastures.
Joel Andem is on the police most wanted list and has been linked to a plethora of criminal activities in the Corporate Area including multiple murders, robberies, shootings, extortions and abductions. Andem allegedly heads the "Gideon Warrior Gang". According to ACP Hewitt, the dead man is a high-ranking member of Andem's gang.
"The dead man's alias is 'Jacket Man'. He is Andem's right-hand man. He was killed and a Lama .45 pistol was recovered," ACP Hewitt said yesterday morning.
The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) said the dead man is Diego Joseph Williams aged 25 years. He is the second member of the gang to be killed this year following the New Year's day death of another member and the arrest of three.
Police said then that acting on information, they went to a dance at the Mavis Bank Comprehensive High School in St. Andrew. Following a shoot-out, a man known as "Eddie", aka "Chineyman", who police said was a member of the gang, was shot dead. A policeman was shot and injured and three other members of the gang held.
ACP Hewitt said the terrain was very rough and the numerous exit points at Jack's Hill, Mamee River and Papine, made it difficult to successfully block exit points.
He said the gang is comprised of several ex-convicts, who were being protected by members of the squatter community. The gang has been linked to the recent slaying of District Constable James Thomas of the Kintyre area of Papine, in St. Andrew.
The operation comes in the wake of video footage by the gang, scheduled to be broadcast on the electronic media this week, which the police says, shows footage of Andem, brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle, and a 22-year-old woman sporting two 9-mm pistols.
