Buxton arms car tracked to overseas Guyanese
Registration not transferred
By Kim Lucas
Stabroek News
June 17, 2003
The car that was intercepted on Sunday in Buxton with a policeman and two other men carrying arms has been traced to an overseas-based Guyanese.
The man reportedly sold the black Honda Accord, PEE 7976, to a man currently before the courts on an arms charge. Members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) reportedly found documents in the car showing that the vehicle was registered to the man. However, checks at the licence office yesterday, revealed that the car’s registration had not yet been transferred.
On Sunday, an army patrol stopped the vehicle at the junction of Friendship Middle Walk and the public road. After searching its three occupants, ranks found two automatic pistols - a .45 ‘Smith and Wesson’ and a 9mm ‘Sigsauer’ - along with a total of 23 live rounds. The three men - police constable Mark Cromwell, as well as civilians Marlon Osborne and Marvin Sears - were then escorted to the Vigilance Police Station where they were handed over to the police.
A senior police source said yesterday that the men were subsequently removed from the East Coast Demerara precinct, but not by members of the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Information coming out of the Police Public Relations Office yesterday said that the men were still in custody and that investigations were continuing.
When Stabroek News visited the home of the overseas-based man to whom the car is registered, a relative said the vehicle was sold to the other man sometime ago. According to the relative, the vehicle was involved in an accident and was left with a mechanic. She identified one of the three men arrested on Sunday as the mechanic who had had possession of the car.
The army identified Osborne, who is also called Marlon Scott and ‘Trini’ as a 24-year-old mechanic. His address was given as Buxton. Reports indicate that Osborne fled the village sometime earlier this year after he was shot at. Members of the Guyana Defence Force had reportedly escorted him from his home in Friendship. His house was later burnt down.
At the time of his arrest on Sunday, Osborne was reportedly carrying a 9mm Sigsauer automatic pistol and 15 live rounds; while Sears had, in his possession, a .45 Smith and Wesson automatic pistol with eight matching live rounds. The serial numbers for both weapons had been filed off, and police sources yesterday said they were trying to ascertain the origins of the weapons.
In December, policeman Sean Belfield, along with Shaheed Khan and Haroon Yahya, were intercepted at Good Hope allegedly with sophisticated surveillance equipment and a large quantity of arms and ammunition in a bulletproof pick-up. Those men, dubbed the ‘Good Hope Trio’ are currently on trial at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, East Coast Demerara.
