Farmers Urged to Make Reports of Praedial Larceny

Head of the Praedial Larceny Prevention Coordination Unit, Superintendent Oral Pascoe, is urging farmers affected by praedial larceny to make reports to the police.

“We have actually seen in some parishes where reports have gone up significantly. So, for example, in Trelawny we are seeing where there are over 80 reports of praedial larceny. Previously there was none,” Superintendent Pascoe said.

He made the remarks during a press briefing held at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining’s Hope Gardens offices in Kingston, on January 31.

Superintendent Pascoe also warned against vigilante justice, instead encouraging farmers to report praedial larceny and carry it through the system.

“I think up until about October-November, you would have heard about seven reports, and we have not heard much report of persons being captured and brought into the system to be put in front of the courts. So, we are seeing positive results,” he said.

“Enforcement is also critical to ensure that when persons are caught they are prosecuted and they are given reasonable sentences that the public believe are rational and make sense, based on the problem that we have,” he added.

In the meantime, Superintendent Pascoe said an intelligence review of praedial larceny was undertaken by the National Intelligence Bureau.

“It is showing that… in Clarendon, Manchester and so forth, where the proceeds not only go to Haiti, to trade meat for guns, for weapons, but the gangs… are using the stealing of animals to purchase more guns,” he noted.

“They steal animals, they get rid of them quickly, they purchase guns, and they use the guns to perpetrate more, and they (the gangs) get large and get more dangerous. Remember, the police are on to them for drugs, the borders are tightened up, so this is alternative means,” he added.

The Praedial Larceny Prevention Coordination Unit was commissioned into service on March 2, 2015.

The Unit is a collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining and the Ministry of National Security to curtail the theft of agricultural produce across the length and breadth of Jamaica.

The Unit comprises an administrative arm that is housed inside the Ministry and an enforcement arm led by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).