Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05KINGSTON2290
2005-10-05 13:52:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kingston
Cable title:  

JAMAICA: CRIME ROUND-UP FOR SEPTEMBER

Tags:  SNAR PREL KCRM ASEC JM 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

051352Z Oct 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 002290 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/LP (BOZZOLO),WHA/CAR (BENT),WHA/PDA, STATE
ALSO FOR CA/OCS/ACS/WHA (BRANSON),DOJ FOR OPDAT/RLIPMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2014
TAGS: SNAR PREL KCRM ASEC JM
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: CRIME ROUND-UP FOR SEPTEMBER


Classified By: Mark J. Powell for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Topics:

-- Crime Statistics - No good news here
-- Mountain View Violence - Nothing but Politics
-- Aircraft Carrying Marijuana Seized
-- Soldier Arrested for Illegal Possession of Marijuana
-- Extraditions from Jamaica
-- Haitian Migrant Update
-- JCF Officer Commits Murder, then Suicide

------------------------------------
Crime Statistics - No good news here
------------------------------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 002290

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/LP (BOZZOLO),WHA/CAR (BENT),WHA/PDA, STATE
ALSO FOR CA/OCS/ACS/WHA (BRANSON),DOJ FOR OPDAT/RLIPMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2014
TAGS: SNAR PREL KCRM ASEC JM
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: CRIME ROUND-UP FOR SEPTEMBER


Classified By: Mark J. Powell for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Topics:

-- Crime Statistics - No good news here
-- Mountain View Violence - Nothing but Politics
-- Aircraft Carrying Marijuana Seized
-- Soldier Arrested for Illegal Possession of Marijuana
-- Extraditions from Jamaica
-- Haitian Migrant Update
-- JCF Officer Commits Murder, then Suicide

--------------
Crime Statistics - No good news here
--------------


1. (U) Statistics compiled by the Jamaica Constabulary Force
(JCF) for the period January 1 through October 2 reveal that
1,266 murders were compared to 1,078 committed during the
same time period in 2004. Of the 1,266 murders victims,
Sixteen were children, ten were police officers and one
victim was a British tourist killed in Montego Bay.

-------------- --------------
Mountain View Violence - Nothing but Politics
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) A flare up of violence in the largely JLP affiliated
Mountain View area in East Kingston between September 21 and
30 has resulted in the RSO restricting travel for U.S.
Embassy personnel and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF)
implementing a dusk-to-dawn curfew for the area. Between
September 25 and 28, two women were killed and one infant was
shot and is currently in critical condition. In addition to
the shootings several homes were set on fire.


3. (C) On September 28, head of the Peace Management
Initiative, Bishop Herro Blair met Deputy Commissioner of
Police Mark Shields, Opposition Spokesperson for National
Security Derrick Smith, and community representatives to try
to get the violence under control. Blair, accompanied by
political leaders and other activists led a peace march
through the community on September 29. The upsurge in
violence breaks a fragile calm that has been in place for the
past year. The JCF has attributed the violence to a reprisal
for an earlier shooting on September 6, the date on which the
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) organized a day of nation-wide
protest. Residents from one Mountain View neighborhood did

not take part in the protests and this was seen as a sign
that they had switched allegiance to the People's National
Party (PNP). According to the JCF, these shootings, along
with the burning of at least nine residential units is
intended to solidify the community under JLP leadership.

--------------
Aircraft Carrying Marijuana Seized
--------------


4. (U) A twin-engine aircraft containing over 900 pounds of
ganja was seized at the Holland Sugar Estate in Lacovia, St.
Elizabeth on Friday, September 16. Jamaica Constabulary
Force (JCF) Narcotics Division Acting Director, Clayton
Wilson informed NAS Director that the joint operation with
the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) resulted in the arrest of
Bradley McKany, a Bahamian National. The pilot and several
other individuals that were seen loading drugs onto the plane
escaped. The aircraft is registered to Sears Bertram Inc., a
U.S. company that operates out of Delaware.

-------------- --------------
Soldier Arrested for Illegal Possession of Ammunition
-------------- --------------


5. (U) Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) Sergeant John Allen was
arrested on September 14 after a joint operation by the JDF
and the JCF Organized Crime Division led to a find of
approximately 500 rounds of ammunition at Allen's residence.
Allen has since been discharged from the JDF and is awaiting
trial.

--------------
Extraditions from Jamaica
--------------


6. (U) Embassy Kingston U.S. Marshals Office coordinated the
extradition of Sidique Mohammed (citizen of Trinidad and
Tobago) to the U.S. on September 8. Mohammed is wanted in
California for a 1988 escape while he was serving a seven
year sentence on a cocaine distribution charge. Upon his
escape, Mohammed traveled extensively throughout the
Caribbean and made Jamaica his new home. Using fraudulently
obtained Jamaican birth certificates and passports to
establish a new identity, Mohammed worked as the manager at
two small hotels in Montego Bay for several years until his
arrest by the Jamaican Fugitive Apprehension Team (JFAT).


7. (U) Michael Abernathy was released from prison in St.
Catherine after serving a twelve-month sentence on a drug
charge. Abernathy is wanted in North Carolina for a parole
violation on an original drug charge. Abernathy was deported
to the U.S. on September 8.

8. (U) There are currently 21 defendants in custody in
Jamaica pending extradition to the United States. Their
cases are at various stages of court proceedings and appeals.


--------------
Haitian Migrant Update
--------------


9. (U) Fifteen men and four women were rescued by Jamaican
fisherman near Hectors River, Jamaica on September 21. The
Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) collected twenty identity
cards, but detained nineteen people. Either one Haitian
escaped detention or was lost at sea. The migrants have been
transferred to the Winnifred Rest Home in Portland for
immigration and health screening. They will then join the
forty remaining Haitians at the Montpelier, St. James refugee
facility. This will bring the number of Haitian migrants in
Jamaica to 59.

--------------
JCF Officer Commits Murder, then Suicide
--------------


10. (U) On September 10, a Jamaica Constabulary Force
corporal who was on interdiction (suspension) for two years
for an assault charge brought by his girlfriend, shot her
sixteen times with his licensed firearm and then shot himself
in the head. Both died at the scene. Post's Law Enforcement
Development Advisor (LEDA) stated that the girlfriend
complained to police several times about the physical abuse
and threats from the corporal; however, there was no policy
in place to deal with domestic violence issues within the
force. As a result of this incident, Commissioner of Police
Lucius Thomas asked LEDA to prepare a comprehensive model
policy on domestic violence involving police officers, which
is currently under review.
ROBINSON