BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MEMBERS of the Disciplined Forces of St. Kitts and Nevis have once again come in for high praise as four individuals, including two women, were recently arrested and charged for being in possession of three firearms, more than 100 rounds of ammunition and a quantity of cannabis sativa.
The individuals are Nichole Henry, Shantel Charles, Richie Henry and Delvin Benjamin, all of whom reside in Molineux.
They were jointly charged on three counts of possession of firearm, two counts of possession of ammunition, possession of cannabis and possession of cannabis with intent to supply.
According to a police release, a joint operation was launched on Saturday (Oct. 26) on the premises of the four accused by members of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force and Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise Department’s Enforcement Division.
The operation, according to the police, was intelligence and surveillance-driven with assistance from Crime Stoppers, which led to the execution of search warrants on the premises of the four arrested individuals.
The search realised a find of one M16 Assault Rifle, one DPMS Assault Rifle, both of which have a maximum effective range of 460 metres; one CZ-52 Pistol that has a maximum effective range of 50-70 metres; 103 rounds of ammunition; one BSA Red Dot Scope, which is used to enhance vision in dark areas and can be mounted on rifles and handguns; one tin of three-in-one oil, which is a general-purpose lubricating oil that can be used to prevent corrosion of firearms.
The police however did not state the amount of cannabis found.
In an interview with SKNVibes, Commissioner Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn congratulated his charges as well as members of the community who have been very cooperative and informative in this recent and past finds of firearms and ammunition.
“Let me congratulate the men and women of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and also the community, because we have been getting a lot of calls coming in about weapons. It is not every time that we search we will find them, but we do go out and look for them and we get the comments.
“The community is very upset, especially with Christmas coming on. They are tired of the guns, they are tired of the shootings and they want to do something about it. So they have been calling. This last find was based on surveillance and when the time was ripe…we hit and we were able to recover three weapons along with ammunition.
“Hopefully, the country is a little safer, but I want to encourage the citizens to keep calling, because every gun that we take off the street means that one less life will be lost. So, I appreciate it, and on behalf of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force I would like to say thank you to the law abiding citizens of the Federation in making many of our operations a success.”
The Commissioner said that those persons who are engaged in gun-running and the taking of people’s lives are not to be taken lightly.
He is advising all citizens and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis to be vigilant and to report all criminal matters to the police, noting that “it is only through the vigilance of law abiding persons can we have a safer Federation”.
This media house spoke to a few residents in the Molineux area, who stated that they were appalled in hearing two females were involved in the weapons’ find but praised the police for the good job they have done in removing more guns from the streets.
The residents claimed that they got wind of what transpired in Cayon a few days earlier and have taken cognizance of the fact that the Sergeant at Cayon Police Station was instrumental in bringing members of that community together to assist in the fight against crime.
“We would love to get someone like Inspector Caines or Sergeant Greaux around us to motivate the people here in helping the police to fight crime. We are disgust with the nonsense some of these so-called bad men are doing. We want to know that our kids and even adults can wake the streets in safety at all times. Therefore, we are sending a message to the Commissioner to let him know that we are willing and ready to assist the police, but he must send someone like Caines or Greaux who we know are people-friendly,” one resident said.
This recent find has taken to five the amount of firearms taken off the streets of the Federation in seven days; one in Cotton Ground, Nevis, one in Upper Cayon and these three found in Molineux.
