Police recover several stolen cattle in St. Elizabeth

 

The Area 3 Police's Agricultural Protection Unit on the weekend made a major breakthrough in a string of praedial larceny cases in St. Elizabeth. 

 

Several stolen cattle were recovered in Lacovia and Haughton. 

 

Team leader for the Agricultural Protection Unit, Sergeant Desroy Holness, says during the Ministry of Agriculture's livestock tagging blitz in Burnt Savanna, St. Elizabeth on Saturday, officers received a call from the Lacovia Police about cattle spotted on a property. 

 

"Those said animals were reported stolen two days before. With the assistance of the Lacovia police, a team from, there we proceeded into the Cashew area, which is in Lacovia, close to Slipe, where we went through the morass, which was devastated by Hurricane Melissa, where we saw cows fitting the description of the ones reported stolen, tied up. The team went in along with farmers, and we recovered six cattle valued at about J$480,000. However, after carrying out further checks, we would have recovered more animals, bringing us to a total of $750,000."

 

Minutes after recovering the first set of animals, the team was alerted to another report - this time a stolen bull in Haughton. 

 

Sergeant Holness said overall, cattle valued more than $1 million were recovered by the police. 

 

"We talk about no receipt, no sale; no tags, no movement. We have a message for these praedial larcenists in this parish. Wherever you are, the Agricultural Protection Branch team, Area 3, will find you," the sergeant warned.