The police have retained in their possession all of the weapons in the Good Hope arms case citing that they were illegally obtained, a senior police source has said.

High-powered arms were found in a bulletproof pick-up vehicle on December 3, last year leading to the arrest and prosecution of three men, Shaheed Khan, Haroon Yahya and policeman Sean Belfield.

The men were recently freed of the unlawful possession charges. However, a senior police source told Stabroek News that the police had retained possession of the weapons since by virtue of the fact that they were unlawful, no one had any claim to them and they would remain in the custody of the force. The serial numbers on nearly all the weapons had been filed off.

Among the items in the vehicle were two assault rifles fitted with telescopic lenses, a 12-gauge pump-action rifle, an Uzi submachine gun, two Glock pistols as well as other handguns, a laptop computer capable of intercepting cellular calls and a plan of the city, two bulletproof vests, two camouflage caps and two helmets as well as a large quantity of ammunition of varying calibre.

The three men were intercepted by a Guyana Defence Force (GDF) patrol in the Good Hope Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara on the night of Wednesday December 3, while allegedly standing in proximity to a blue Ford pick-up, where the weapons were found.

The pick-up, which was fitted with half-inch thick bulletproof windows was impounded by Police after the men were detained and lodged at Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters, Eve Leary.

The laptop computer was programmed to track the location of cellular phone users and a list of names and cellular telephone numbers of wanted men as well as other persons were retrieved by intelligence personnel.

The three men were later jointly charged for the possession of two M-16 rifles with 278 matching live rounds of 5.56 ammunition, and two 9mm pistols with 201 matching live rounds. Belfield, who is a constable attached to the Anti-Crime Task Force unit of the Guyana Police Force, was also separately charged with two summary offences for being in unlawful possession of a .40 Glock pistol and ten matching rounds of ammunition.

During the trial, no mention was ever made of the other weapons and the accessories which were found. Since the trial magistrate, Jerrick Stephney, found that no case was made out against the men, all three were acquitted of all the charges.

Last week a senior police officer told Stabroek News that although all of the items were initially confiscated, the accessories and the bulletproof vehicle were subsequently released.

A legal expert told Stabroek News that there was no law preventing a person from installing bulletproof features on a vehicle since the law allowed for a citizen to take measures to ensure his own safety.

Asked whether any of these weapons would be used by police, he pointed out that this was not usual practice and moreover, in the case of the assault rifles the GPF would need to acquire the special 5.56 mm ammunition, since the weapons were not the type used by the force.

The laptop computer was never lodged at the CID and the officer could not offer a clue as to its whereabouts, though he believed that “it is in some official’s custody.”

Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj had said that there was no law prohibiting the use of a computer to intercept telephone calls once the privacy of an individual’s home was not invaded.