Dalton Laing - One of the bedrooms in the apartment building in Llandilo Phase 1 in Westmoreland reportedly ransacked during a joint police/military operation yesterday

By Dalton Laing, Star Writer
savanna-la-mar, westmoreland:

Residents of an apartment building in Llandilo Housing Scheme Phase 1, Westmore-land, are now frustrated after what they describe as the indiscriminate and indecent behaviour of a joint military-police team that invaded and searched their dwelling yesterday.

They say that at approximately 3 a.m. they awoke to loud banging on their doors. It is alleged that the lawmen kicked open their doors and used a chain saw to cut the grills to gain entry to their bedrooms.

According to a police source in Westmoreland, a team of lawmen from Kingfish, the Narcotics Division and the Intelligence Military Unit were acting on intelligence received that a Toyota Town Ace motor vehicle loaded with marijuana was parked in the yard of the apartment complex.

The lawmen after discovering that the information was true raided the buildings.

The owner of the building, Earnest Arthurs, who lives next door, said that he heard the racket and after realising that they were police officers, offered them the keys but the police ignored his offer and continued to use force.

"I said to them, 'Sir, Sir I have the keys' but they just continued what they were doing so I just close back my window and leave them alone," Mr. Arthurs told THE STAR. "They just come in an aggressive way and decide they don't want to talk to anybody they just doing their job, they just carrying out their operation."

Captain Nana Agyemang, commanding officer of the Salvation Army Church in Savanna-la-Mar, who occupied one of the apartments said that he was disappointed with the action of the police since they have left his wife and two children, aged five and three, traumatised after they were awakened by men with high-powered weapons in their bedrooms.

"I woke up at about 2:30 a.m. to an unusual noise and when I opened the upstairs door of my apartment I was confronted by a policeman who was aiming his gun at me so I hurriedly went back inside only to see two more in my bedroom pointing guns at my family," he said.

"I think it was an irresponsible act on the part of the police force," continued Captain Agyemang, "when I asked them what they were about they say they were acting on intelligence but I believe they were acting recklessly because to be searching for something and forcefully opening every apartment, pointing guns at people while searching for drugs is just not good enough considering that the lives of people are more valuable than the drugs they are looking for."

drugs found

The vehicle with the 20 bags of marijuana weighing approximately 20 pounds each was loaded on to a wrecker and taken to the Narcotics division in Montego Bay, but not before there was almost a shoot-out with local lawmen who were on patrol in the area.

The local police say they were not aware of the operation and when they saw several men with high powered weapons they attempted to apprehend them. They later found out that the men were also police officers.

No arrests were made during the operation.