An investigation is underway into the disappearance of more than one hundred and fifty firearms from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Armoury and Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn said that information thus far revealed that some of these firearms are “on the road”.
Sources have told Stabroek News that the firearms were discovered missing about two weeks ago during an audit that is ongoing at the GPF.
Among the weapons that cannot be located are those belonging to citizens which were lodged for safe keeping, seized during police operations and some which were seized from persons fingered in criminal activities and were lodged as exhibits for the court hearing.
A source close to the investigation told Stabroek News that a number of ranks including two sub-ordinate officers and four constables were placed under close arrest as part of the investigation.
To date, the police have not made any public statement on the matter.
However, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday, Benn said that the investigation is ongoing.
He related that he visited the armoury on Wednesday to have a firsthand look at the situation on the ground during which he noticed that the issue of storage of weapons at the facility needs to be addressed.
“…The situation there is not encouraging with respect to the storage of the firearms, being able to recognize and retrieve them properly. Obviously much more room needs to be provided to store the firearms properly, have them properly labeled and in terms of retrieving them, even though they have a computerized system it has to be fully functional so that it can complement the book system that they have there too,” Benn explained.
He added the information has revealed that some of the missing firearms “are on the road” while a few have been identified as “having come from the police”.
Benn said that as more information becomes available a further update will be provided.
