By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
This Chinese version of the deadly AK-47 assault rifle was seized on Wednesday in Braeton, Portmore, St. Catherine, by members of the Organised Crime Investigative Division. - Norman Grindley /Staff Photographer
LETHAL WEAPONS manufactured in Europe and North America, some with a range of up to 1,500 feet, continue to be smuggled into the country in novel ways, according to the local police.
On Wednesday morning, a Chinese version of the AK-47 assault rifle was found in Braeton, St. Catherine, by members of the newly-upgraded Organised Crime Investigative Division, which the Government has mandated to probe criminal gangs and their modus operandi.
MAXIMUM ASSISTANCE
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Assistant Commissioner Osbourne Dyer, who heads the National Firearms and Drug Intelligence Centre, said the police had been getting "maximum assistance" from the United States Embassy in Kingston, in tracing the origin of the illegal guns sent to Jamaica. "In recent times we have had two convictions," he said.
He said the cases had to do with guns seized in Portmore, St. Catherine and May Pen, Clarendon. In one case, local detectives went to the United States and gave evidence which resulted in a Jamaican living in Atlanta receiving a 10-year prison term.
Since January, the police have seized 416 illegal guns and 7,193 rounds of assorted ammunition with an estimated street value
of $20 million. The cache of
arms includes 188 pistols, 100 revolvers, 84 home-made guns, 17 rifles (AK-47s and M-17s) and 10 shotguns.
Up to 1998, the cost of an M-16 was close to US$700. According to reports on the Elmira Arms Company Inc. web site, prices for AK-47 rifles, shotguns and pistols vary depending on the brand. Five years ago, the cost of a single 9mm or .38 bullet was US$16, while US$15 could buy one M-16 cartridge. The .45 bullet is slightly more expensive.
PENETRATION
Senior Superintendent Donald Pusey, one of the country's top crime fighters, said in terms of penetration, the AK-47 is quite deadly.
"It is one of the more feared weapons in terms of popularity on the criminal market," he said.
The AK-47 Net web site reported that the assault rifle's effective killing range was 1,500 metres. It can be fired in two different modes - slow and full auto. The Russian built weapon was designed by Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov as a replacement for the SKS and as a rifle that could be used by Soviet tank crews.
In a previous interview with The Gleaner, forensic expert Daniel Wray said the M-16 was effective over 600 yards and the bullet is very light and moves fast. When it makes contact, it fragments in different directions and causes extensive damage to blood vessels.
The .45 bullet is much bigger and heavier. This, he said, causes large wounds and will break bones. The 9-mm pistol is effective over 400 yards and the bullet is smaller than the .45, but bigger than the M-16 cartridge. It rips through flesh and enters the body. A .38 revolver can cause damage between 300 and 350 yards.
