by Linda Straker
- Since amnesty began on 1 May, police received 4 guns and over 100 rounds of ammunition
- Customs officers identified illegal firearms components in barrel of items for personal use
- Police have detained several people for questioning
Police have confirmed that several parts of firearms were found in a barrel at the Port of Tyrell Bay, in Carriacou on Monday evening.
“We can confirm that police conducted an operation and found several component parts of firearms in a barrel,” said ASP Simon Douglas, Head of the Community Relations Department of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF).
Police have not provided further information about the seizure, but it’s understood that the barrel was awaiting clearance when customs officers identified the illegal firearms component in a barrel which contained items for personal use.
Police have detained several people for questioning about the illegal firearm, but no one was charged at the time of writing this news article.
There is currently a gun amnesty in place for citizens to hand over guns without facing charges and penalties. Under the gun amnesty guns handed over at police stations will be acceptable without the police detaining and questioning citizens.
During the Lower House sitting of 25 June, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said that since the amnesty began on 1 May, police received 4 guns and over 100 rounds of ammunition. The amnesty ends on 31 July.
He did not refer to the confiscation in Carriacou, but told the House, “as we speak several people will soon be charged for possession of illegal firearms.”
In a recent townhall meeting, Prime Minister Mitchell who is also the Minister for National Security said that between January to June of 2024, police have confiscated 35 firearms.
“That is more firearms than the entire year last year; it is more than the year previously. In fact, in the last 10 years, it is more than any other time,” he said, advising that citizens should not underestimate that there is a gun challenge in the country.
In May, 3 young men were killed by what is labelled as using illegal firearms. Two young men have been charged for those offences and are currently inmates at the prison at Richmond Hill.
Please save the children, the elders, the innocent from gun violence. Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique should remain a safe haven for all. Keep up the good work and keep all deadly weapons off the streets.
Police will not be able to intercept all guns coming into Grenada. There is big money in drugs and guns and as long as that is the case guns will continue to flow into the country.