St. Lucia continues to grapple with serious crimes

According to an article in the St. Lucia Star newspaper, police in that island continue to grapple with a serious problem of gun and drug related crimes.

In 2013 there were reportedly 173 firearms related cases and 470 drug related cases. The marine unit also had to contend with a high number of incidents at sea, many of them involving contraband with ganja, cocaine and conch.

In total, there were 8106 summary offences, and 4651 crimes against persons during 2013, according to statistics provided by the Royal St. Lucia Police Force (RELPF).

Encouragingly, there was a reduction in homicides in 2013, but the police report that they are still grappling with a number of serious issues. One of these is the number of young persons who are getting involved in crime, with a noticeable upward trend already in 2014.

In the much publicized murder of Roger Pratt, a British national who was vacationing in St. Lucia, four young men, all teenagers, have been arrested and charged with the crime. They are all from the area of Bruceville in Vieux Fort which was the scene of a daylight shooting incident just two weeks ago.

In another incident, on Friday, February 28, a 15 year old student and a 40 year old man were arrested after a search warrant was executed at a residence in Blackstars, Morne Dudon.

During a search of the house, officers recovered a .32 revolver with five rounds of ammunition and a quantity of dry plant material suspected to be ganja. A total of 500 ganja seedlings were also destroyed.

According to Toni Nicholas, the author of the article, "the frightening part of all this is that the young criminal minds appear to be more daring lately."

As evidence of this, the writer cites a February 21 incident, during which five young men, aged 17-24, were arrested for unlawfully gaining entry into the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force Marine Unit pound. They entered the property by cutting into the fence in an attempt to steal scooters that were impounded by the police.

During the foiled robbery attempt, the thieves were confronted by officers attached to the Marine Unit and three of them were shot and injured by the police.