Police hunting suspected mastermind in carjacking ring

Detectives probing the carjacking ring have hit a major breakthrough in their investigations and are now on the hunt for a resident of Lodge Housing Scheme, Georgetown, who is said to be the suspected mastermind behind the criminal network.
As of Thursday evening, the suspect was still being sought. A Division (Georgetown-East Bank Demerara) Commander Marlon Chapman updated media operatives on the probe earlier in the day.
“There’s a person of interest that we are looking at; he might very well be the mastermind behind this entire thing, but we need to have him for questioning,” Chapman said, adding that he could not confirm if the suspect was in the country.
Last night, investigators swooped down on the man’s Lodge Housing Scheme home and conducted a search during which they found a black Mazda Axela motor car with licence number PTT 2794.
They also unearthed 12 certificates of registration for various vehicles, including some that were seized from the home of an ex-policeman, who was currently in custody.
The ranks have since taken into custody a 52-year-old woman, who was at the residence. Her name was found on the registration certificates of two of the seized vehicles.
Commander Chapman was in high praise for the work done by his ranks. However, he noted that it was the cooperation of the public that has led to the success of the probe thus far.
“I have to say at this stage that the cooperation has been excellent from members of the public, particularly in that Kuru Kururu-Yarrowkabra area and so the information is forthcoming and we are acting upon it … I cannot help but commending members of the public for giving us the information and their assistance, and not forgetting the ranks in my division. Kudos to my entire team,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan had disclosed that ex-Police Officers implicated in the probe were advising players in the carjacking ring.
“They were advising these carjackers how to do it, where to park, how to switch around (parts) and a whole lot of things … and that is why it took us so long to catch this set of carjackers because they were smarter,” Ramjattan stated.
The Minister too lauded citizens for assisting the Police in the crackdown on the carjacking network.
There are currently a total of 15 persons in custody, assisting with the investigations as they continue.