Alston Stewart, a Jamaican advisor to the Alliance For Change has explained an incident at Piarco Airport, Trinidad where a firearm magazine was found in his luggage.
The statement was released by the Alliance For Change.
His statement follows:
It has come to my attention that it is being reported in sections of the Guyanese traditional, as well as, social media that I was “busted at the Piarco International Airport with ammunitions in my luggage”. This is an attempt to twist an unfortunate but innocent incident to give the impression that there was a sinister plot to smuggle ammunitions as I was on my to Guyana for pre-arranged meetings as an “AFC election Strategist.”
It would appear that these false and distorted reports are being promoted by Opposition interests for pure political advantage as the political silly season approaches.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned, I am obligated to provide the facts in relation to an incident at the Piarco International Airport in Trinidad on Thursday, October 26, 2019 en route to Guyana.
These are the facts. I departed Kingston to Guyana en route through Trinidad on BW 483.
During a routine check at the Intransit security point at the Piarco International Airport, it was discovered that I had inadvertently omitted to clear my carry-on personal bag of a firearm magazine for my licensed firearm. Both of my carry-on bags were screened at the point of embarkation in Kingston and it remains a mystery as to the failure of the machine to detect its presence among my luggage.
As I have explained and provided supporting evidence to the Trinidadian authorities, I am a licensed firearm holder in Jamaica and used the same personal bag to carry my firearm and ammunition for protection. When I am travelling abroad, I would remove all these elements from my bag as I believed I had done in this instance. The discovery, therefore, at the Piarco International Airport was a total surprise and embarrassment to me as it was never my intention to leave Jamaica with the items or to contravene the laws of Trinidad or any other jurisdiction. The matter was referred to the Magistrate’s Court in Trinidad, where it was dismissed unconditionally and I was allowed to return to Jamaica.
Since then, however, it appears that forces aligned to the Opposition have been peddling propaganda and twisting the incident in an effort to besmirch the reputation of the AFC and to invite a negative disposition in the relation between myself and the Alliance. My relationship with the Alliance has always been and will continue to be above board and in accordance with sound principles and in compliance with all laws.
I, therefore, condemn in the strongest possible terms the attempts by opposition interests to extract political mileage from this incident, and also to bring to notice that this attempt
to politicize the event only exposes their recklessness and irresponsibility as it is clear that they are prepared to use deceitful tactics to their advantage.
Alston Stewart