AK-47 found, five held -after police search Church St house
By Heppilena Ferguson
Stabroek News
March 15, 2007
Joint services ranks yesterday afternoon found a butt-less AK-47 rifle and arrested five persons, including Brazilians, during a cordon and search exercise at a house on Church Street.
A joint services press release said that based on information received the ranks mounted an operation at approximately 2 pm at a two-storey building located at 190 B Church Street, North Cummingsburg. It said the search unearthed the rifle, which had part of its butt sawn off, in the upper flat of the building.
However, the statement did not say whether the weapon might be one of those discovered missing from the Guyana Defence Force's arms store at Camp Ayanganna over a year ago.
Dozens of persons gathered to see what would develop from the nearly five-hour exercise, which saw ranks in full gear, and which also severely hampered sales for some Church Street businesses including Austin's Book Store.
After a while, a young woman and a man emerged from the house, which is split in two halves at the bottom and they were escorted into a police vehicle. They were followed by three others including a man who appeared to be in his early 50s.
No one, not even schoolchildren were allowed through the cordon while ranks searched the house and later in the afternoon special investigative ranks of the police force and army arrived.
Ranks were also seen removing two motorcycles from the house.
Sources told Stabroek News that the officers approached the house and informed occupants that they were there to conduct a search since they had received a "tip off".
The occupants complied with instructions they received and ranks searched every conceivable part of the house.
This newspaper understands, too, that the owner of the house is a miner and had left his home early yesterday morning to conduct business in the interior and was supposed to have returned later yesterday.
He lived in one of the apartments downstairs and apparently rented the other half as well as the top flat to persons who frequented the interior and also had businesses there or worked with other miners.
The house is known to be one with much activity but not at any one time since at different periods persons would come out of the interior and stay there, a resident told Stabroek News.
Those arrested included one of the tenants from one of the apartments downstairs and four others who were at home at the time of the gun find.
This newspaper was told that the officers were very professional in their search and the occupants allowed them to do their job.
Stabroek News learnt too that the officers' search seemed aimed at the upper flat of the house but as part of the operation the bottom flat was subjected to the search as well.
The army last year made public the disappearance of 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols from its arms stores at base camp Ayanganna.
Less than half of those weapons have since been recovered and no one has been held responsible for their disappearance.