As the Guyana Police Force (GPF) continues its campaign to rid the streets of illegal guns and ammunition, members of F Division (Lethem-Interior Locations) over the past few days conducted searches at several locations in Kato Village, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) where three illegal shotguns were unearthed. No arrests were made.
The shotguns that were found in Kato
Only recently, the GPF found 234 live rounds of .40 ammunition and one live round of .45 calibre ammunition hidden in a one-gallon paint can in a parked car along Gordon Street, Kitty, Georgetown.
In another incident, Police in E Division (Linden-Kwakwani) discovered an AK-47 rifle, two magazines and 15 rounds of matching ammunition, 15 .38 live rounds, 39 .9mm live rounds and 21 .223 live rounds, along with a magazine.
The Police said that while cleaning a house in Linden, a citizen observed a haversack behind a wardrobe and upon examination, found the firearm and ammunition.
The Force recently stated that gun-related robberies saw a five per cent decrease, with 563 cases this year compared to 592 cases last year; while there was a 17 per cent decline in robberies with other instruments, which recorded 235 cases this year against 284 last year.
Meanwhile, the public perception does not reflect the Police statistics since several armed robberies are committed on a daily basis. On Friday, the Public Security Minister was approached to address public perception but was on record as saying,“That is not a Guyana issue, it is regional… people usually do not believe Police statistics”.
