Residents of First Dam, Garden of Eden yesterday made the shocking discovery of 1,400 rounds of ammunition and a gun on the street and two unopened suitcases.
The police in a release later said that at about 0830h yesterday, acting on information received, police ranks went to the area where they found a .38 Taurus Special Revolver along with 1,407 rounds of ammunition of various calibre, two bullet-proof vests, two pairs black leather boots, three face masks, and a quantity of clothing in two black suitcases and a travelling bag on the dam.
The release said that the ammunition included .38, 7.62×39, .45, .44, .40, 9mm, .25, and .380 rounds; and 12 gauge cartridges.
No arrest has been made. Investigations are in progress. There was immediately speculation on who dumped the ammo and why. There have been several high-profile killings here recently.
“Is people going to work early in the morning see dem things but nobody didn’t want open the suitcases so we call the police,” a resident told this newspaper yesterday.
The resident said they observed what could have been used as a police uniform along with masks.
Residents yesterday surmised that the police may have had a roadblock on the East Bank and person(s) decided to dump the items. They noted that the area where the items were found was the only place in the street that had no street light and would have been dark. One resident said they checked many of the homes in the area and no one reported being robbed so the only logical explanation was persons wanted to get rid of the items.
The find comes weeks after the police unearthed an arms cache in Lethem. That discovery was later linked to two execution-style killings here.
In that raid on October 1, police found four automatic rifles along with four magazines and 389 rounds of 7.62×39 calibre ammunition; six M-16 rifles along with two magazines and 74 matching rounds; two shrapnel hand grenades; one Icon VHF radio set; one Icon hand-held radio set; and one roll of camouflage material.
Guns and ammunition are believed to be flowing in unchecked across the Brazilian frontier.
