Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Most illegal guns coming from Brazil – Crime Chief
Crime Chief Leslie James has disclosed that based on police analysis, Brazilian-made weapons appear to be the preferred
Crime Chief Leslie James
choice of criminals operating in Guyana.
The Crime Chief, who was delivering his year-end report last Monday at the Police Officers’ Mess, confirmed that most of the illegal firearms seized from criminals here originated from neighbouring Brazil.
His disclosure comes as no surprise, since Brazil is a large manufacturer of guns in this corner of the world, and its proximity to Guyana and the porous border that separates the two countries makes it difficult for law enforcers to effectively prevent the interception of guns coming through.
According to police figures, the pistol and revolver are the favourites of criminals, and indeed the type of guns seized are of Brazilian manufacturer—the Taurus and the Glock. Other categories of weapons seized include shotguns, rifles and a submachine gun.
During the past five years, the police have been recovering more than 100 guns per year. This translates to one unlicenced gun every three or four days.
In 2012 the police seized 111 illegal firearms from criminal elements, 29 of which originated from Brazil.
The following year, 32 illegal guns originating from Brazil were seized, and this was out of a total of 100 weapons intercepted by the police.
Only the United States of America came close in terms of the country of origin for illegal weapons seized in 2012 and 2013, with 38 and 23 respectively.
The police were also able to trace some of the Illegal weapons seized to Europe, Venezuela and China, while the origin for a significant number could not be ascertained.
Crime Chief James attributed the high number of Brazilian-made weapons in the society to the influx on miners from the neighbouring country, whom he said probably feel the need for personal protection from the criminal activities in Guyana’s hinterland.
“We also note that Brazilian miners cross our borders, some of them illegal, and reasonably we can surmise that those miners may be bringing from Brazil to Guyana firearms to protect themselves as they go through that endeavour, and somehow those weapons are finding their way into the city,” James stated.
However, according to the police figures, the seizure of illegal weapons is on the decline and James has attributed this to the intensified enforcement posture of the Guyana Police Force.
So far the police have seized 73 weapons for this year.
“We continue to do our patrols. We continue the stop and searches and continue to seize illegal firearms, take them off our roads to prevent criminal activities,” the Crime Chief declared.
Meanwhile, Commander of the Police ‘A’ Division, who also addressed last Monday’s gathering, urged citizens to bear the inconvenience that is bound to occur with the heightened police activity throughout the season.
“There will be some inconvenience so that we can address crime,” he stated.
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