BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – OVER the past week, members of the security forces have been targeting a number of communities in their effort to rid the Federation of illegal guns and ammunition as well as to eradicate the planting of marijuana, and they have so far been successful to a relatively high degree.
Among the communities under the police radar is Cayon, one of the known hotspots in St. Kitts and Nevis, where a squad of soldiers had uprooted over 2,000 marijuana plants in the Whites Mountain on Sunday (Jan. 17).
A joint operation was also conducted on Thursday (Jan. 21) by police officers of ‘B’ Division, the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force and Her Majesty Customs Enforcement in the Belmont Mountains, where approximately 600 marijuana plants, a number of garden tools and other apparatuses used for the cultivation of the plants were seized and destroyed.
On that said day, the security forces went into Ottley’s, where they searched an abandoned house and found 10 rounds of .45 ammunition, three .40 rounds of ammunition, camouflage clothing, a black hooded jacket, a mask, a large quantity of marijuana plants being dried and a large quantity of marijuana seeds.
And some residents of Cayon told SKNVibes that early yesterday morning (Jan. 22) they had seen a large number of police officers from the Special Services Unit and the Cayon Police Station with hundreds of marijuana plants found in the Whites Village area in Upper Cayon.
They also said the normal flow of traffic was disrupted that morning in the Wash Ghaut area as the said officers were conducting a stop and search operation.
This information was confirmed by ‘B’ Division Commander Superintendent Cromwell Henry who, when asked for more details, said there is a channel for that and it could only be had from the Force’s Public Relations Department.
SKNVibes contacted Gruel Browne, the Department’s Head, to find out the number of marijuana plants seized and if anyone was held responsible for the find, as well as the number of vehicles stopped and if any illegal items were found aboard when searched.
Browne, who at the time was not in office, declared that he was unaware of the two operations but however promised that a press release would be issued when the requested information would have been acquired.
On condition of anonymity, one resident was high in praise of the officers but strongly recommended that the authorities beef-up the strength at the Cayon Police Station.
“The officers at this police station and the soldiers who come here to help them fight crime in the community are doing a very good job. They have to keep up the pressure but the soldiers don’t be here every day and there aren’t many officers at the station. This means that the big boys in Basseterre must have more officers stationed here, because many illegal activities are carried out late in the night and very early in the mornings.”
