BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A joint operation by members of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and their law enforcement counterparts from the Defence Force and Customs, this morning (Feb. 5) discovered a quantity of ammunition and marijuana in the Shadwell area.
Speaking with SKNVibes, Superintendent Merclyn Hughes, who was recently appointed to act as the Officer with responsibility for Operations, said that an operation was conducted between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. in the Shadwell area and it yielded the find of 11x.45 and 20x5.56 rounds of ammunition on the premises of an abandoned building.
It is said that the M16 Assault Rifle, a gas-operated, selective fire weapon, is chambered for the 5.56x45mm ammunition.
Hughes also stated that a quantity of marijuana was found during the operation and she was in high praise of the residents for their collaboration.
“We are getting quite a lot of assistance from the public and we want them to continue collaborating with the police in the fight against crime. The police alone cannot be successful in this fight; there has to be a partnership between the public and the police.”
Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for Crime, Ian Queeley echoed Hughes’ sentiments and pointed out that the operation was part of the new Police Force’s Strategic Plan.
“I would like to commend the residents of Shadwell for their cooperation with the police and I am calling on all citizens and residents in both St. Kitts and Nevis to emulate them so that together we can return our Federation to the peace, safety and tranquility for which it was known.
“Everything that we are doing now is tied to our plan of action and Strategic Plan that will be released shortly. So this morning we did about 12 different search warrants and we also searched the entire area. Both canine and physical resources were used in the operation and we had assistance from our law enforcement counterparts.”
SKNVibes had learnt that officers had to dig into the earth to locate the ammunition, and this was confirmed by Queeley who pointed out that in addition to human resource and the K-9 Unit, a sophisticate piece of equipment was also employed.
ACP Queeley said that prior to the intelligence-led operation, the Mobile Unit was based in the Shadwell area for more than a week and the intent was to increase police visibility.
“In our Six-Point Plan we spoke about visibility and more frequent deployment of the Mobile Unit. We had it deployed in the Shadwell area over the past 10 days and the community was very receptive of it presence.”
He explained that in addition to police visibility, the presence of the Mobile Unit in Shadwell was part of the Force’s Community Engagement Strategy, where the High Command wants the officers to have a closer relationship with residents in the community.
This find has taken to 53 the total number of ammunition seized by the police for this year.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Hughes informed that two stop and search operations were also conducted this morning.
One was conducted at the roundabout in the vicinity of the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw International Airport, where more than 50 persons were ticketed; while the other was in the Molineaux area and 35 persons were handed tickets for various traffic violations.
