BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - POLICE in their latest press release said they “recovered” a number of contraband items yesterday (Aug. 21), including ammunition.
“The Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) recovered contraband items on August 21st, 2023. During a search of two (2) empty lots on East Street, St. Kitts, the officers found nine (9) .45 rounds of ammunition on one of the lots,” the release stated.
It also stated that “further searching also uncovered a quantity of a white powdery substance suspected to be Cocaine. Both sets of contraband were taken into Police custody”.
No one was held accountable for the finds. However, personnel of the Crime Scene Unit processed the scene and collected some items of evidential value.
As investigations are ongoing, the police are urging anyone with information that could assist with the successful apprehension and conviction of the perpetrators of criminal activity to contact the nearest police station or the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 707.
The release, however, did not indicate when the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force had lost the contraband items or when the items had gone missing, as was indicated that they “recovered” them.
Over the past few months, the Police Force seem to be lapsing in its dissemination of information to media houses via press releases, that are at times very confusing.
In a number of instances, press releases, like the one today, had stated that police had recovered drugs, firearms and ammunition during search operations.
What causes confusion is “recovered”, the word regularly used to indicate what occurred.
Recovered is the past participle of recover, which means “to get back or retain something lost or taken away”.
It is therefore advisable that in the dissemination of information pertaining to the find of drugs, ammunition, illegal firearms and other forms of weapon, the word “discover”, “find” or “unearth” will be more applicable.
