Operation Saline Solution
Criminals feeling the heat
-joint services source
Stabroek News
January 18, 2003
More than two weeks after the launch of Operation Saline Solution II, the joint services yesterday reported that they are putting severe pressure on criminals in the lower East Coast Demerara area.
The newest operation, a specialised campaign within Operation Tourniquet, is aimed at flushing out criminal elements from Buxton and adjoining areas. However, crimes are still being committed with impunity on residents on the East Coast.
Speaking to Stabroek News about the operation, a senior official in the Joint Services said village patrols by the police and army have been intensified, as well as the cordon and search exercises. The latter, the source said, are conducted according to intelligence gathered.
"We feel that criminal elements are under severe pressure, especially in the lower East Coast area, because of consistent pressures in Buxton and the adjoining areas...Right now, [the Joint Services] are conducting a psychological operation phase, by
distributing a number of leaflets, soliciting the support of the citizens...We had a good response," this newspaper was told.
But a senior law enforcement officer told Stabroek News yesterday that it was not easy to measure the success of the last 12 days, since there had been no arrests. He, however, said the operation will be sustained over a lengthy period. As part of the exercise, the Joint Services, on Wednesday, began distributing fliers with information about several dangerous criminals.
Since the launch of the operation on January 8, a policeman was shot dead during an ambush on the Friendship Public Road, East Coast Demerara and the spate of robberies and kidnapping continues unabated.
Six law enforcement officials and several civilians have been brutally slain since the start of the year. Operation Saline Solution II is aimed at nabbing two of five men who escaped from the Camp Street jail last year February 23, as well as other criminals. There have been solid leads that the criminals are hiding out in the areas between Good Hope and Paradise on the East Coast of Demerara, and in Georgetown.
For almost a year, since the prison breakout, there have been more than 100 murders, as well as a series of robberies, carjackings, kidnappings and shootings.
Ever since there have been numerous calls for the administration to take action. The army and police have since been conducting a number of operations in an effort to restore normalcy. (Kim Lucas)
