Police equipped to tackle lottery scam related crimes in Manchester - Chang

 

National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang says the police are better equipped to tackle the emergence of lottery scam related crime in Manchester, given their experience with similar activity in St. James.

 

The illicit activity has been identified as the root cause of a worrying increase in homicides in the parish in recent months.

 

Speaking with the media during a tour of Manchester on Thursday, Dr. Chang said the police have been drawing on lessons from the experience with fighting scamming in Montego Bay, St. James. 

 

"The police is better prepared, they have had the experience from elsewhere, and they are trained and organised to deal with it. Lotto scamming can generate a lot of violence. But, as I said, we are better prepared, better organised, and we are doing the required not only investigation, but monitoring; we work very closely with our partners from overseas, where they are extorting the funds from, and we are able to have significant success in apprehending the major players in this kind of operation," he said. 

 

Forty-four murders have been recorded in Manchester since the start of the year compared with 42 for the similar period in 2023.

 

The police have intensified operational activities in the parish, including cordon and searches, implementation of curfews and early cut off times for entertainment events.