DR. PETER Phillips, National Security Minister, today begins five days of meetings with security and other Government officials in the United Kingdom, to bolster support for Jamaica's crime-fighting efforts in the wake of a spiralling crime rate which claimed another 11 lives on the weekend. A total of 918 people, including 14 policemen, have been murdered since January.
His visit is aimed specifically at strengthening bilateral co-operation with the British authorities to tackle drug trafficking and associated criminal activities.
Gilbert Scott, Permanent Secretary in the National Security Ministry, told a meeting of the Lay Magistrates' Association of Jamaica on the weekend, that the international drug trade was the biggest contributor to the spiralling crime rate, with the guns that it spawns accounting for 65 per cent of all murders.
It is within this context that Dr. Phillips will be meeting this week with Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development; Bob Ainsworth, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office; representatives of the Metropolitan Police Service; and Mike O'Brien, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
A Jamaica Information Service news release from London said that Dr. Phillips was scheduled also to have discussions with officials from Amnesty International, the National Criminal Intelligence Service, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, the Ministry of Defence and the Avon and Somerset Police.
While Dr. Phillips is seeking to drum up international support for the country's crime-fighting efforts, violent crime, in particular murder, continues unabated. A bloody weekend saw five men shot dead and 13 others shot and wounded in one incident on Saturday in downtown Kingston during the busy shopping period. The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) said yesterday that the police were yet to establish a motive for those killings.
The CCN said a strong detachment of police would be deployed in the commercial district this morning, to ensure that persons can go about their legitimate business.
Among the body count on the weekend were the remains of three men found on Saturday in a shallow grave in Savannah, Hayes, Claren-don. The men, who are said to be from St. Catherine and Clarendon, are believed to have been killed in late October. On-the-spot post mortems revealed that they died from gunshot wounds. The Clarendon police are investigating.
On the weekend also, there was major success for the security forces as eight firearms were seized in separate operations. And 17-year-old Dugal Henry of Windsor Heights, south central St. Catherine, said to be on the police 'Most Wanted' list, was slain during an exchange of gunfire with the police in the community on Saturday. A .380 calibre semi-automatic pistol with two rounds, was taken from him, the CCN said.
Police blotters show that Hubert Larmond, 50, was on Saturday arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition after a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol with 10 cartridges was found in a Honda Inspire car in which he was travelling on the Spanish Town bypass, St. Catherine.
Two Hi-Point 9mm pistols with six rounds were taken from a crime scene at Jericho district, Hanover, on Saturday; a Remington shotgun and a Tec-9 submachine gun were seized in Olympic Gardens, also on Saturday; a Ruger semi-automatic pistol and six cartridges were recovered from the body of Andrew Crooks, 30, who was slain yesterday in an alleged shoot-out with the police in Free Hill, Bamboo, St. Ann; and a .38 calibre Smith and Wesson revolver and two 9mm rounds were seized yesterday in Norwood, St. James. Carl Chung, 28, was charged in connection with the gun seizure in St. James.
