NTA Political Leader and former police commissioner Gary Griffith said that given the grave danger posed by illegal weapons to citizens in the country, he welcomed the TTPS find of a massive illegal find in Santa Cruz, as it seemed to have made the PM more aware of the threat posed by these weapons.
The TTPS uncovered the illegal cache of weapons and seized more than 35 high-powered weapons and ammunition this week. The discovery included: 13 firearms, including two AK-47 rifles, two Draco rifles, one M-16 rifle, two UZI sub-machine guns, one Beretta sub-machine gun, one Ruger 30 calibre rifle and one Ruger Precision 50 calibre rifle. The seizure also included 1,152 rounds of assorted ammunition, namely 45 mm, 50 calibre, 12-gauge, 7.62 mm, 9 mm and 6.5 calibre armour piercing ammunition. Several major firearm component parts were also seized, including ten laser pointers, 23 rifle stocks, 53 trigger guards, 13 selectors, 15 triggers, four rear sights and four buffers.
Griffith said: “800 – 1,000 illegal firearms annually, that’s about 16,000 we would have seized for the last two decades, and still there are tens of thousands left outside. The former COP said the PM seemed not to understand that 99 per cent plus of the murders in the last three years have been by illegal firearms, and he has done nothing to rectify the situation.”
Griffith also said he recommended several measures to the government to fight illegal firearms, including acquiring mobile scanners, drones, and the formation of a border protection unit, but was ignored. He said: “One of those assault weapons the criminals have can kill 35 people in three seconds, that is how serious it is. Thankfully the one additional benefit we’ve seen from this raid is this recent find.”