Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

Unlike residents of the area, last Wednesday's seizure of eight AK-47 rifles, a .357 magnum revolver and a quantity of assorted ammunition in a pre-dawn police operation in Green Bay, St. Elizabeth, did not come as a surprise to the Police High Command in Area One.

"We have been following this sort of activity for quite a while," said Superintendent John Morris, the officer in charge of operations for Area One, which covers the parishes of Trelawny, St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland.

Haiti link

"What you are now seeing is a culmination of the investigations that we have been doing over time," Superintendent Morris added. "Our intelligence has shown that local criminals have established a drugs for arms tie with their counterparts in Haiti."

Wednesday's weapons seizure in St. Elizabeth has confirmed the long-standing suspicion that criminals are targeting the many miles of unprotected coastline from St. Elizabeth to Westmoreland for illicit movement of drugs and guns.

At a recent Gleaner Editors' Forum, in Montego Bay, St. James Superintendent Dezeita Taylor, the commanding officer for Westmore-land, called for the re-establishment of a marine post along the coastline, saying it was a haven for drug trans-shipment and its many vices.

While noting that it was the increased vigilance of the police which led to last week's bust and the arrest of four fishermen, Supt. Morris said plans are under way to further strengthen security along the coastline.