BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN their continued quest to rid the Federation’s streets of illegal firearms, members of the Special Services Unit (SSU) yesterday (Oct. 27) had arrested and charged three individuals for illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.
Charged with the offences are Ivette Richards, Terrence ‘JT’ Ritchen and Eric ‘Jun-Jun’ Thompson.
A police communiqué stated that at approximately 1:25 p.m. yesterday during an operation in the Southeast Peninsula, members of the SSU had stopped and searched a vehicle, PA 4952, owned and driven by Richards.
“The search yielded one .40mm semi-automatic pistol loaded with a magazine of (8) eight rounds of .40mm ammunition. Two (2) other persons were in the vehicle, Terrence Ritchen alias "JT" of Newtown, a resident of Jessups Village, Nevis and Eric Thompson alias "Jun-Jun" of Ponds Pasture.
“All three (3) persons have been arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition,” the communiqué read.
This has been the second illegal firearm within a week to be removed off the streets of St. Kitts and Nevis; the first was on Wednesday (Oct. 21) in Sandy Point. These two have taken to 17 the amount of illegal firearms seized for the year.
Acting Commissioner of Police Stafford Liburd reported stated that the seizure was encouraging and thanked the SSU for their continued dedication to duty.
“We urge anyone with information that can assist the police in our fight against crime to call any police station in the Federation or Crime Stoppers, our confidential hotline at 1-800-8477, to share information. The information is critical to keeping St. Kitts and Nevis safe," Liburd said.
Commenting on the result of the day’s operation, one member of the SSU said, “The seizure of another illegal firearm in less than a week tells me and the other members of SSU that we have to keep up the pressure. If we are going to keep our citizens safe we have to be vigilant. Keeping our communities safe from violence is a priority for us. This seizure encourages us to keep on. I am asking the community to help us, share what you know with the police...let’s do it together,” to which his teammates nodded in approval.
Also commenting on the recent find, a concerned citizen, who on condition of anonymity, said: “The police are now doing what should have been done eons ago. Apart from guns being stealthily transported to either St. Kitts or Nevis by small vessels, criminals also use the ferries in Basseterre and Charlestown as well as the Sea Bridge.
“I therefore extend congratulations to the officers for this find and encourage them to keep up the good work. I would however like to suggest that random searches be conducted aboard the vessels after passengers would have boarded. And don’t forget to walk with female officers so that those women who are cahoots of criminals could be legally searched.”
