| Related Links: | Articles on Providence arms cache |
| Letters Menu | Archival Menu |
The seizure was reminiscent of a find two years ago at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara.
The men were arrested in a black Tacoma pick-up, PHH 7515, which was up to yesterday parked in the Criminal Investigations Department compound at Eve Leary.
Reports reaching this newspaper state that ranks at the Providence Police Station on Sunday afternoon got a tip off that the vehicle was heading to Georgetown from Timehri and a roadblock was set up in front of the station.
However, a release from the Police Public Relations Office said police became suspicious of the vehicle because it bore no front number-plate while proceeding through the roadblock.
The release added the two men were arrested in a Tacoma 4x4 jeep at about 2.50 pm following the discovery of a quantity of arms and ammunition along with several cellular phones.
The items seized are: one .45 Glock pistol with magazine and ten matching rounds; one .32 Taurus Pistol with magazine and 14 rounds matching ammunition; one AK 47 Assault rifle with removed butt with magazine and 29 7.62 ammunition; one Chinese AK 47 assault rifle with magazine and 29 7.62 rounds; one magazine containing 25 7.62 rounds; four cellular phones and two satellite phones.
Stabroek News was told that several vehicles were searched before the black pick-up arrived, all of its windows closed. Reports are that the men have since disclaimed knowledge of the arms and ammunition, telling the police that the vehicle is not theirs and that they were only transporting it to its rightful owner. It is not clear who is the real owner of the vehicle, which bore a close resemblance to the one that was found on December 3, 2002 at Good Hope.
On that evening, Shaheed Khan, Haroon Yahya and policeman, Sean Belfield were detained by an army patrol at the Good Hope Housing Scheme, where they were alleged to have been found with a large stockpile of arms and ammunition. The men were subsequently charged but later acquitted after Principal Magistrate, Jerrick Stephney had upheld a no-case submission on their behalf. They allegedly had in their possession: two M-70 assault rifles fitted with telescopic lenses, a 12-gauge pump-action rifle, a 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 pick-up, a Tacoma, was fitted with half-inch thick bulletproof windows.