By Barbara Ellington
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, is warning criminals that they have no safe haven anywhere in Jamaica. He said the security forces will be relentlessly going after gangs, those who import weapons into the country and those who use them to commit crimes.
“You have no hiding place! All the people who are importing guns into Jamaica, whether you live here or cooperate with people abroad, you have no hiding place. I want that message to go out very carefully,” prime minister Holness continued. “Jamaica is on a solid pathway to tackle the gangs, which for a long time believed they had free space and free rein. None of that in Jamaica.”
The prime minister was delivering the keynote address at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce awards banquet held on Saturday (March 29) at the Bloomfield Professional Centre in Mandeville. He told the businessmen and businesswomen that Jamaica has invested heavily in building its national security apparatus through the purchase of equipment, training of officers and building strong country-to-country relationships to undermine and eliminate criminal networks across borders. He noted that in the last four weeks, major shipments of illegal weapons and contraband entering the ports have been seized.
“Be assured that as prime minister, I stand 100 percent behind the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). In murders, we saw a decline by nine per cent in 2023; in 2024, we saw a decline of 19 percent and, year to date, we are seeing a decline of 35 percent,” he said, adding that the number of active gangs have been reduced from 350 to less than 100 since 2016. That was because of the strategic investment and decisions made by the Administration as it relates to treating the matter of crime. It was never a flip-of-the-switch strategy,” he pointed out.
Commanding Officer, Manchester Division, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Carey Duncan, said the police stepped up operations in the parish last year with significant inroads made into gangs and lottery scamming activities.
“Several gangsters were arrested and charged for serious offences while some were displaced in other parishes and international jurisdictions. Those who are wanted are still being actively pursued by us. In 2025, the downward trend in violent crime continues. Year to date, we are seeing a 64 percent decline in murders and a general 38 per cent decline in all major crimes,” he said.
DSP Duncan said the data suggest that when a crime takes place, there is a 78 percent chance that someone will be held accountable. He had high praises for the detectives in the parish who have enabled the police to clear 75 percent of murders since the start of this year.
During the ceremony, the Manchester Chamber of Commerce presented Lifetime Achievement awards to the Lascelles Johnson’s of Johnson’s Pharmacy and Timothy Scarlett of Power Services Limited.
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