Several police officers arrested for alleged involvement in Clarendon gang

 

Several members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force were arrested on Friday during a major operation while others are being sought after they were identified as being members of the Clarendon-based Ronko Gang.

 

Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey, who is in charge of crime, made the revelation on Friday afternoon during a media briefing.

 

The criminal network has been linked to shootings, robberies and abductions in seven parishes between 2019 to 2021.

 

DCP Bailey disclosed that four police officers are among the alleged gang members taken into custody.

 

A police constable, identified as Tafari Silvera, is said to be the leader of the criminal organisation.

 

Constable Silvera was arrested last year in connection with the killing of two men in Clarendon.

 

"We have identified 27 members of the gang, which include at least eight members of the security force, one of whom fled the island immediately after the arrest of Constable Silvera," DCP Bailey revealed.  

 

Constable Teshneil Francis, Constable Danilo Barnes, Constable Roy Morris, David Henry, Ovid Mackenzie, Nicholas Simpson and Tevin Henriques were arrested on Friday following operations carried out by the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigations Branch (C-TOC) and the Clarendon Police. 

 

DCP Bailey, while describing his colleagues' involvement in the criminal network as disturbing, noted that the Jamaica Constabulary Force has internal and impartial investigative mechanisms. 

 

"This investigation was not reported by citizen, it was a result of our own intelligence-led investigation. We would like to declare that we will be unbiased in our approach to any member of the society who run afoul of the law, whether you're a pastor, a priest, a politician, or police. You will be apprehended, and as long as there is sufficient evidence, you will be prosecuted." 

                                                                                       

Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson said Friday's arrest of  four officers allegedly involved in the Ronko Gang is an indication of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's resolve to rid the organisation of corruption.

 

"We as an organisation cannot rely on anybody else to root out our own problem. We will do it and where required, we will arrest our own members and put them before the court," he asserted.