Task Force to Target Criminals in Guns-For-Drugs Trade

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will be establishing a Guns-For-Drugs Trade Task Force, as part of efforts to disarm gangs in the country.

It will also target members of the criminal underworld, who are involved in the guns-for-drugs trade.

The announcement was made by Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of crime, Glenmore Hinds, during a press conference at the Police Commissioner’s offices in Kingston on January 7.

He said that already some 21 guns-for-drugs syndicates operating in the country have been identified and significant seizures of drugs leaving Jamaica and guns coming back to Jamaica have been made.

“It is through this vehicle that we intend to disarm most of the criminal gangs in Jamaica. It is a fact that once guns exist in the wrong hands, our murder rate is difficult to stem and so the part of the strategy that will be a significant focus is the disarming of criminal gangs that are in most communities across Jamaica,” Mr. Hinds noted.

He reminded community members that it is a fallacy to believe that criminal gangs can protect communities.

“Even if they are ‘protecting’ a community, they are going to wrong other persons from other communities and the common saying, ‘if yu cyan ketch Quaco, yu ketch him shut’ (will play out). Many persons have been killed by criminal gangs, only because they were related in some way, shape or form to persons who are involved in gang activities,” the Deputy Commissioner pointed out.