Police encased hundreds of surrendered or seized firearms and other weapons in wet cement Friday in preparation for turning them into permanent boat moorings.
Police officers Marlon Bodden and Kurt Walton emptied more than 300 weapons, including shotguns, knives, handguns, swords, flare guns and knuckledusters, into four wooden crates that were then filled with wet cement at the Marine Police Unit in Newlands.
Several of the weapons came from a gun amnesty in 2010 and another in 2005, while others were weapons seized or recovered by police. In all, more than 300 weapons and more than 2,600 rounds of ammunition will come to a watery end when the cement blocks are sunk in the ocean to become moorings.
Detective Superintendent Bodden said the firearms had been destroyed with a chop saw. “We exhausted 10 blades destroying all the weapons,” he said.
The guns, knives and other weapons were destroyed at George Town Police Station over a three-day period last year. They have since been kept under lock and key until they were ready to be encased in the cement crates Friday.
Among the weapons were 26 guns and 233 rounds of ammunition that were handed over to police during last year’s month-long gun amnesty.
Police launched this year’s gun amnesty on Friday. It lasts until 31 July and during that time people can hand in unlicensed, illegal or unwanted firearms and weapons to police stations.
Mr. Bodden said ballistic examinations of the 28 firearms handed in last year during the amnesty had shown none of them had been used in any crimes under investigation, but said getting those guns off the street meant that they could never be used in the future to commit a crime.
Destroying the guns, encasing them in cement and sinking them at sea would ensure “they will not fall into the wrong hands”, said Mr. Bodden.
Among the dismantled and chopped up weapons that are now inside the cement blocks are some large firearms, including AK-47s and .44-calibre shotguns.
Bodden urged the public to help the police track down illegal weapons. “Help us to prevent gun crimes. Pass the information on to us,” he said.
Earlier last week, following the shooting of 28-year-old Kemar Golding, who was shot in the face during an attempted robbery of a jerk stand in Red Bay on Wednesday, 29 June, Mr. Bodden said firearms had been used in more than 50 armed robberies or attempted robberies so far this year.
During this year’s firearms amnesty, from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week, a secure lock box will be available for anyone to deposit firearms and ammunition at the West Bay, George Town, Bodden Town and Cayman Brac police stations.
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URGENT ! Notify the authorities not to use wet cement to get rid of guns. Wet cement will simply disolve when it hits water. They should use concrete which should last for many years even in salt water.