HEAD of the Kingston East police division, Superintendent Assan Thompson, is praising a special police unit for finding over 20 firearms, including assault rifles and sub machine guns, since September last year.

Thompson said the elite four-man team, which was specifically put together to find and seize illegal weapons, has been effective in carrying out its duties in some of the most volatile communities in the division.

"These men were trained specifically on how to search for and find firearms, and at this point the dividends of their efforts could not be better," Thompson said Tuesday.
The team is responsible for the seizure of 23 weapons and an army grenade since September 2007.

Three of the weapons - a Mack 11 sub machine gun, and two 9mm pistols - and more than 28 rounds of ammunition were seized during operations carried out on Noswad Road in Rockfort and Summerset Avenue in Franklyn Town within a 40-hour time period last week.

Nineteen-year-old Havon Hases of Lennox Avenue and another man were also arrested during the find.

Thompson however, said the high haul of illegal weapons is an indication of the high number of illegal weapons in the division's hotbed communities. He said that although the increase in the haulage was cause for celebration, it also signified the volume of work facing his men in ridding the division of illegal guns.

"Based on the ease and frequency at which these weapons are being recovered, we believe that it is an indication as to the high proliferation of firearms in this section of the city," said Thompson.

He said that the police have intensified their efforts in the pursuit of illegal guns in the area, paying special attention to the war-torn Rockfort community.

Rockfort, he said, which has only since recent weeks returned to a level of normalcy, is believed to be one of the communities with the highest number of illegal guns.