By Robert Hart and Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReportersINFORMATION MINISTER Burchell Whiteman has revealed that Cabinet ministers and other high-profile members of the society have been placed on high alert in the face of threats from elements linked to the international drug trade.
At the same time, a member of the Police High Command has confirmed that the intelligence arm of the island's security forces has intensified its probe into the threats made on the lives of several Cabinet Ministers and others. The senior police officer told The Gleaner yesterday that the situation is "very sensitive".
The reports of death threats, as well as possible protest action, have emanated from police intelligence reports and come in the wake of the continuing crackdown on alleged drug kingpins.
"We have stepped up the security around some Cabinet Ministers," the high-ranking officer said. He also noted that the police are currently looking into the safety of persons in other leadership positions across the island.
It has been suggested that the threat on the lives of 'officials holding office' could be part of an attempt, by persons profiting from or linked to the international drug trade, to force the Government to scale down the renewed assault on illegal narcotics, which has netted several alleged drug kingpins in recent months.
The tactic would be similar to one employed in drug-riddled countries such as Colombia, which have seen the assassinations of high-profile politicians and judges. But the threat to Government ministers is not a first for Jamaica as, during the Michael Manley-led Govern-ment of the 1970s, then Minister of National Security, Eli Matalon, almost fell victim to the illegal drug underworld. After a meeting with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Miami, Florida a bomb, allegedly planted by drug dealers, was found under his car.
Yesterday Mr. Whiteman told journalists that Cabinet met with two members of the Police High Command who briefed Govern-ment ministers on police attempts to dismantle local gangs related to the international drug trade. But, he noted, the police officers also made reference to Prime Minister P.J. Patterson's warning, during a national broadcast on Sunday night, that protest action could likely be instigated under different guises "to distract the security forces and dilute their efforts in the fight against crime."
The Information Minister was speaking during the regular post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
He stressed that: "The police officers spoke to us about issues of improved security in targeted communities (and) the care to be exercised by persons holding office, including Cabinet ministers and individuals who might be seen as particular targets for those who are bent on their nefarious activities."
He added that all members of the Cabinet had been briefed and advised on some of the measures to be adopted as well as "the lead that we should be giving the broader society in respect of the perceived likely programme of disruption which those who are connected to the drug trade might seek to implement."
Commenting on the recent drug-related arrests during Sunday's broadcast, the Prime Minister warned Jamaicans that the criminal element was not likely to "simply surrender" and "suddenly turn to law-abiding ways".
Mr. Patterson noted that the criminals could not be allowed to escape the reach of the police, threaten witnesses, or 'unleash a reign of terror' on the rest of the society.
