National Security Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Horace Chang, says the seizure of a large shipment of firearms at Seaboard Warehouse in Freeport, Montego Bay, St James on Friday afternoon was a signal that local law enforcement continues to reap success at dismantling the illegal gun trade.
Chang is also assuring that the police will be conducting further investigations to apprehend those who were involved in the shipment of the 22 illegal firearms and ammunition which were found and seized.
He said the criminals are seeking to "undermine and damage the Jamaican society".
On that score, Chang reiterated late Friday night that "we'll find them (the criminals) and lock them up for a long time, and we going to disrupt the trading routes into Jamaica."
The shipment of weapons that was found included 21 Glock pistols, a Cobra Ent .380 Pistol loaded with a magazine containing five .380 cartridges; a Glock magazine containing thirteen 9mm cartridges; and a Glock 19 barrel.
"I want to commend the collaborate effort of the entire security team (that was) involved," said Chang in his initial reactions to the weapons seizure.
He outlined that among the teams that was involved were the Customs Enforcement Team, the local Criminal Investigations Branch (CIB) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigations Branch (C-TOC), along with support from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents in Jamaica.
"The criminals think they are smart, and they are smart; but our professional teams are better, and we'll find the firearms, we'll disrupt the gangs and these people who are killing Jamaicans," declared the deputy prime minister.
"It's a tough fight and the Government is giving the security team as much support as they can, and I think the success we are having right now reflects the success and the investments and the effort to coordinate the entire operational teams," he added.
According to Chang, the intelligence is getting better and the "officers are getting smarter and looking into the unusual spots, and they're finding more firearms."
Reports are that about 3:30 pm on Friday, a Customs Enforcement team observed anomalies with a package, and handed it over to a police team.
Closer inspections revealed that the package contained a cache of firearms.