AK 47 SEIZED

A nitrogen cannister believed to be used in the manufacturing of silencers for firearms was also recovered and seized. A silencer is a component of a firearm used to muffle the sounds of the bullet being fired.

Commenting on the seizure of these weapons, a senior police source told Newsday: “For such a small country, there is a large number of illegal guns in operation. We will work tirelessly to get as much of these weapons of death and destruction out of criminal hands.”

In Central Trinidad, shortly after 1 am yesterday, a party of officers led by Supt Celestine Phillip and Insp Wayne Lawrence and including officers of the Chaguanas CID and members of the Central Division Canine Unit acted upon intelligence and went to Lamont Street in Enterprise where they searched a garbage heap and found a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver loaded with two rounds of ammunition. Police also recovered a pistol, which is described as a sophisticated weapon at Lamont Street Extension.

Also, in this same exercise, with the assistance of sniffer dogs, police found behind a warehouse among a pile of tyres, a half kilo of marijuana wrapped in foil. Five persons were also arrested for the breach of the curfew and one person, who police said, is a known drug lord was taken into custody on enquiries.

On Saturday, at about 11.30 pm a party of officers including Insp Henry Dan, Cpl Gibbons, Cpl Campbell, WPC King-Guerra and members of the Port-of-Spain CID, acting on intelligence they received over a two-day period, went to Cameron Road in Petit Valley where they found hidden in some bushes near the road, a black plastic bag. In the bag, police said, was an AK 47 assault rifle, a 9 mm Beretta pistol, 22 rounds of 5.56 ammunition, 43 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, two magazines for 7.62 ammunition and one nitrogen cannister. No one was arrested.

An AK 47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62 ? 39 mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova. The original AK-47 was one of the first true “assault rifles” to be manufactured, after the original Sturmgewehr 44. Even after six decades the model and its variants remain the most widely used and popular assault rifles in the world because of its durability, low production cost and ease of use. It has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with armed forces as well as revolutionary and terrorist organizations worldwide.

Earlier that same night (Saturday), at about 8 pm a party of officers from the North Eastern Division Task Force, led by Sgt Roger Alexander and Sgt Cornelius Samuel conducted an exercise in the Morvant and San Juan area where they recovered one .380 pistol, one 12 gauge home made shotgun and 20 rounds of .38 special ammunition. Police said the arms and ammunition were found hidden just off a track along Hirondelle Street in Morvant. No one was arrested.

The same party of officers at about 11 pm also recovered a Hyundai Tucson vehicle, which was taken at gun point from a police officer in the Cunupia area in March. Other officers involved in the exercise included Cpl Sunil Bharath, Cpl Kevin Franktom, PC Colin Furlonge and PC Lorenzo Lezama.

Also, during the day on Saturday, in a 12-hour exercise a large contingent of police officers from the Region Two Homicide Bureau and the Northern Division executed a search at a container apartment at Balisier Street, Valencia, where they detained a 25-year-old man believed to be the main suspect in the shooting deaths of four Arima men.

The officers also arrested the man’s 22-year-old girlfriend and seized a Glock pistol along with 5.56 ammunition, five twelve-gauge cartridges, eight rounds of .45 ammunition, 50 rounds of 5.56 ammunition, ten rounds .40 ammunition, 14 rounds of 9 mm ammunition and ten hollow points with magazines. A quantity of assorted ammunition, two bulletproof vests believed to belong to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, a police sweater like the ones worn by the officers of the Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB), an army jacket and pants and two stolen vehicles were seized. Officers also found a laptop computer which was said to have contained sensitive information on national security matters. On Friday, between the hours of 12 noon and 4 pm officers of the Inter Agency Task Force under the supervision of Supt Alleyne, ASP Kenny Mc Intyre, Sgt Farrell, Cpl Khan and a party of officers conducted searches in Eastern Quarry area in Laventille in the vicinity of Readymix Trindad Ltd and found a 357 revolver, a quantity of ammunition and 12 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana.

On Friday, between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm police raided several apartments at Almond Drive, Morvant where they seized ten kilogrammes of compressed marijuana, 100 hand rolled marijuana cigarettes, a magnum pistol and five rounds of ammunition.

The weekend discovery of nine firearms followed last Thursday’s seizure of 15 high-powered guns and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition which were dug up two miles into a forested area at Rincon Road, Las Cuevas, by police and soldiers. Some of the illegal firearms, according to police, were capable of spraying upwards of 1,000 rounds of ammunition in one minute. In addition to the firearms, an assortment of ammunition, which police said numbered more than 10,000 rounds of various calibres, drugs, bulletproof vests and ski masks, were also seized.