Police have now laid charges against eight persons who were arrested
during a predawn operation by a joint Police/Military team in Old Harbour, St. Catherine on
Monday, February 7.

The men have been identified as:
1. Richard Gregory Snr, otherwise called ‘Boswell’, 45-years-old vendor of Old Harbour
Road, St. Catherine.
2. Allando Gregory, otherwise called ‘Dulass’, 50-years-old carpenter of Gregory Park,
Portmore, St. Catherine.
3. Sadeki Gregory, otherwise called ‘Salo’, 30-years-old of Old Harbour Road, St. Catherine.
4. Brandon Gregory, otherwise called ‘Popo’, 20-years-old of Richmond St. Mary.
5. Jordan Gregory, otherwise called ‘Sham’, 22-years-old, unemployed of Richmond, St.
Mary.
6. Richard Gregory Jr, 19-years-old of John’s Road, Catherine.
7. Oshin Gregory, otherwise called ‘Lisa’, 24-years-old, shopkeeper of Dempshire Pen, St.
Catherine.
8. Amoy Palmer, otherwise called ‘Abbie’, 21-years-old of Gordon Pen, St. Catherine.

All have been charged with breaches of the Copyright Act, the Excise Duty Act and the Spirit
Control Act; and are scheduled to appear before the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Court on
March 29, 2022.

Reports are that between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., a team of police and military
personnel entered a premises where they uncovered an illegal bottling operation with counterfeit
liquor. The team discovered hundreds of bottles, labels of popular local liquor brands, a bottling
machine and several cases of raw material. Eight people were arrested.

The team also seized approximately JMD $218,000 in cash.

As the investigations continue, citizens are being warned to take precautions and examine the
labels of packages when making purchases and use license retailers/wholesalers.

Five wanted men have been captured by the Kingston Western Police over the
last two weeks. The men were wanted in connection with several serious crimes committed within
the division.

They have been identified as:
1. Twenty-eight-year-old Rushane Samuels otherwise called ‘Son Son’ of McKenzie Drive,
Kingston 14. He has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of shooting
with intent. He was also featured on the JCF’s Wanted Wednesday Campaign in 2021.

2. Twenty-seven-year-old Romario Powell otherwise called ‘Rory’ and ‘Worry Dem’ of no
fixed address. He was charged jointly with Samuels with two counts of murder and two
counts of shooting with Intent.

3. Twenty-four-year old Jermaine Brown otherwise called ‘Do the Maths’ of Pink Lane,
Kingston 14. He was charged with escaping custody.

4. Twenty-one-year-old Jermaine Barham otherwise called ‘Price Right’ of Fourth Street,
Trench Town, Kingston 12. He was charged with rape and burglary.

5. Twenty-four-year-old Collin Townsend otherwise called ‘Jo Jo’ of Jones Town, Kingston
12.  He was charged with rape.

The police continue to crack down on guns, gunmen and gangs as surge operational activities
result in the capture of wanted men and the seizure of illegal weapons.

Meanwhile, the police are asking citizens with information on criminal activities to contact the
Police Emergency Communication Centre at 119, Crime Stop at 311, Operation Kingfish at 811
or the nearest police station.

The Westmoreland Police are investigating the seizure of a Chrome and Black
9mm Pistol along with a magazine containing four rounds of ammunition seized on the Frome
main road in Westmoreland on Saturday, January 29.

Read more: Four Men Charged in Connection With Westmoreland Gun Find

Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson has given a commitment that measures will be implemented to curtail the country's high murder rate.

Last week the Parliamentary opposition gave General Anderson an ultimatum to get crime under control in the next 60 days or resign.

General Anderson says the crime rate has been trending down, however he concedes that murders have been posing a challenge.

He says strategies are being employed to address that problem.

“So we are dong everything we can and we are building a force with more capacity, we are doing some other things right now to become more agile. We are recovering the guns, our intelligence is working - we are getting all major crimes down and we will get murders down also.” 

The Commissioner also said that the the Jamaica Constabulary Force, JCF, continues to be hampered by a lack of adequate resources and these are further interrupted by the pandemic.

He added that there is also a need for greater focus on funding for the JCF. 

‘There has been low investment in the JCF for decades. A building doesn’t run down to ruins in a day. What would be good, is a combined focus on the gunmen and a combined agreement on how to fund the force, to become that force that we want,” the Commissioner said.