THE police yesterday detained 275 people, including two women, during curfews imposed on volatile sections of Spanish Town, St Catherine, hours after the limited state of emergency extended to the parish took effect.

Seventy of the detainees were subsequently released after being processed and interviewed.

To date, one home-made shotgun and a quantity of marijuana (amount not yet determined) have been recovered by the police, the constabulary said yesterday.

The areas under curfew included Shelter Rock, Homestead, Tawes Pen, Dempshire Pen, Jones Avenue, and other areas which police described as major criminal hotspots in the old capital.

Deputy Police Superintendent Andrew Edwards, anti-crime boss for the St Catherine North division, praised the initiative, explaining that it could be of much assistance in stemming gang operations in Spanish Town and other sections of the parish.

It is too early to say how it has assisted us right now, but I believe that if we have this for some time, it will surely bring us some success, Edwards said.

The deputy superintendent said he spent much of yesterday overseeing the operations, which saw security forces leaving no stones unturned as they combed the parish for wanted men and contraband.

Apart from searching individuals, premises, and public transportation leaving and entering the former capital city, soldiers were seen searching several canals and waterways, apparently for weapons.

Government had declared the limited state of public emergency for the Corporate Area on May 23, as it intensified attempts to capture fugitive Christopher Dudus Coke who is wanted to answer drug and gun crimes in the United States.

Coke was captured by police on Tuesday evening, but Prime Minister Bruce Golding told Parliament that the drive to clamp down on criminal forces and the search for illegal guns must be maintained.

One month was not sufficient to achieve the results required, said Golding, during a Parliamentary debate on whether or not to extend the curfew Tuesday.