Vendors in the Coronation Market in downtown Kingston are being forced to allow thugs from nearby communities to take up their goods without paying.

For some time now, on any given day, men have being going to the sellers and taking whatever they want before leaving without paying and sometimes without even saying a word.

"And they can't say anything," Deputy Superintendent Leslie Ashman, head of crime at the Denham Town Police Station, said when THE WEEKEND STAR asked him if the police were aware of the happening.

According to DSP Ashman, the police can do nothing about the situation as the vendors continue to refrain from providing statements needed so the police can implement initiatives to combat the situation.

The crime chief also said over the years the police have begged for the cooperation of the vendors, but to no avail.

"We have asked time and time again for them to cooperate and they are yet to start doing so. There is nothing we can do right now," Ashman said.

Investigations revealed that in some cases, the demanding men even placed their orders beforehand and collected the bag of goods later.

Earlier this week, THE WEEKEND STAR spoke with a number of the vendors who said that the practice has existed for years. The men are known thugs from neighbouring, volatile communities in west Kingston, the vendors claim.

They admitted to fearing what could happen if they chose to stand up for their goods. They did, however, point to the men as nuisances.

Target

"Oh God man, a nuh now this a gwaan, this a gwaan from me a pickney a come a market and me a 39 now ... . This probably naw go eva stop," one vendor who strongly requested anonymity said.

Vendors told THE WEEKEND STAR that the men, known to frequent the market oftentimes, give the excuse that they are going to 'run a boat' or claim they were sent by the big man'.

"Mi naw lie mi jus know seh a one a dem thing deh and mi jus affi adapt to it ... . Some seh dem a go run a boat and some will seh a di big man send dem," another vendor Olive Oilsaid.

According to the vendors, the men target fruits, vegetables, ground provisions or just about anything they can get their hands on. In addition, they say they can lose up to $1,000 per week to the acts.

Asked if they have ever tried to stop the men, one very loud vendor lowered her tone to answer saying, "Mi naw lie, sometime mi will cuss dem but then yu haffi remember seh dem a bad people and dem will do yu tings."

Efforts to get a comment from Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie were unsuccessful as calls to his cellphones were unanswered and he was said to be out of office.