Cayman police have seized ammunition and caches of AK-47s and M-16s, both automatic assault weapons, in more than a month of raids around the island.
The exceptional power of the arms was alarming, according to Superintendent Ken Hall, head of the Cayman Island’s Criminal Investigation Division.
The 28 March attempted murder of Sheldon Browne in an East End pub was the first appearance of an AK-47 in Cayman, he said.
A similar weapon was used 48 hours later in the shooting in Hell Road, in which a van was riddled with 27 holes and the driver shot in the back.
Mr. Hall said several suspects had been interviewed in the East End attack, but no arrests had been made.
Jamaican Damion Ming, he said, had been arrested in connection with the Hell Road assault.
An M-16 had been used on 29 March, the evening after the East End assault, when the Bodden Town home of Carlos Russell was attacked. Police found 27 rounds of ammunition in the wake of the incident, most of it the .223 caliber used in the automatic rifle, and some 9mm pistol ordnance
Matio Dimal Ramoon has been charged in connection with the attack
Mr. Russell, 42, was subsequently charged with the 30 March slaying inside George Town Hospital of Philip Watler, acting as a bodyguard for the injured Mr. Browne.
Police said Mr. Russell had gone to the hospital to finish the bungled 28 March attempt on Mr. Browne. Investigators found a .38 revolver, six spent shells and 13 rounds of live ammunition in the possession of Mr. Russell, known locally as ‘Screechy’.
Inspector Hall warned that the sophisticated weaponry indicated the escalating violence of the drug and turf war that has taken at least two lives and left several others injured since early March.
Hundreds of rounds
He said officers had confiscated hundreds of rounds of assault-weapon ammunition, bullets for .38 calibre, .40 calibre and 9mm pistols, and four bullet-proof vests.
Along with a series of arrests, he said, the confiscations had dramatically reduced the number of attacks.
‘We have been carrying out a lot of investigative work, been removing ammunition and weapons and we continue to evaluate and analyse the material,’ the superintendent said.
‘We’ve been keeping on top if it, and that has had an effect, and we will continue to stay on top of it,’ he said.
‘We’re in a far better position now, and the only reason there has been a lull has been because of the dedication of our officers, working 16 hours and 18 hours per day.’
He described the seizures as the result of proactive policing and a massive effort of four teams, each comprising 27 law-enforcement people, including detectives, uniformed support group officers, the drugs task force, customs, K-9 and others.
‘We found a container with 40 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition, 60 rounds of .76-caliber, which is military made and the type used in AK-47s,’ he said.
‘We also found 50 rounds of .223, used in M-16s and another 50 rounds of 9mm.’
Superintendent Hall said a 15 April operation recovered a fully loaded semi-automatic .40-caliber pistol and nine rounds of ammunition. Police arrested one man.
On 6 May, four days after the attempt on Bjorn Ebanks, police recovered a .38-caliber pistol, a live ammunition round and five spent shells.
‘He was shot in the open, out in his yard, point blank several times,’ said Superintendent Hall. ‘How did he survive? By the grace of God, is all I can say.’
The most recent seizure detailed by Mr. Hall was 10 May when police found a .375 Smith & Wesson with six rounds already loaded and another nine rounds in a small bag.
A 9mm pistol with nine rounds in its magazine was also seized.
In Jamaica
Police attempts to stem the flow of firearms have focused largely on Jamaica, where a recent interdiction in the Black Wharf Area with Jamaican police and army resulted in the death of at least one Caymanian, the seizure of 35 kilograms of ganja and a widespread search for abandoned firearms, believed destined for Grand Cayman.
In early April, police arrested two Jamaicans at Owen Roberts airport, allegedly contracted by Cayman’s rival gangs, for murder and robbery.
Dominic Silburn, 35, has been charged. The other, said Superintendent Hall, was released.
‘We couldn’t connect the dots, evidentially, so Immigration took him and sent him back.’
Police connected Mr. Silburn to a US-based group, which in turn they connected to Cayman.
Weapons were in fact the connecting thread in the cases, providing most of the leads, he said.
He acknowledged frustrations within the community at the perceived slow pace of police work, but said it had been steady, deliberate and effective.
”We are staying on the offensive, but you have got to do things in a certain way, follow certain procedures.’
Otherwise, he said, police investigations were vulnerable to criticism, ruining much painstaking work.
‘We’re hoping that a lot of things may happen (in the near future)’, the superintendent said. ‘The team is doing a lot of work and we hope to get a little closer (on) some other (cases). A lot depends on laboratory results.’
Related Videos
