Police ranks in Arakaka, North West District yesterday afternoon arrested three Venezuelan men who were allegedly found with three unlicensed firearms, ammunition and narcotics (66.4 grams cocaine and 64.7 grams marijuana).
At about 17:27 hrs yesterday, the police said that ranks of the Arakaka Police Outpost in Regional Division One received information that three men, suspected to be Venezuelan nationals, had visited a shop to charge their phones and were seen with what appeared to be firearms in their waistbands.
Shortly after, Reny Melville, known as ‘Pony Tail’, arrived at the shop and picked up the suspected Venezuelan nationals. They left on an ATV in the direction of Melville’s residence at Waterfront, Arakaka, North West District.
In response, the police said that ranks from the Arakaka Police Outpost, fully dressed in uniform, proceeded to Melville’s home. Upon arrival, Melville was informed of the purpose of the Police’s presence. The ranks requested permission to conduct a search in and around his home, to which he agreed. The ranks entered the house, where they found three men lying on the floor, communicating in Spanish.
Whilst conducting the search in the presence of Melville and the three nationals, whose names were later learnt to be Eliyer Vera Venez, Romel Masim, and Jiminez Rojas, one of the police ranks observed a blue and black haversack under a bed in the room.
“When the Police opened the haversack, they found a Glock 19 pistol (with a tampered serial number) with six matching rounds of ammunition and two Beretta 92 A1 pistols with magazines — one with twelve 9mm rounds of ammunition and the other with seven 9mm rounds of ammunition. The men were informed of the offences committed, but they remained silent”, the police said in a statement.
Further searches were conducted on a wooden table near the bed, where a bulky black plastic bag was found in the presence of Melville and the three suspected Venezuelan nationals. The bag was opened, and a quantity of a ‘creamish’ substance suspected to be cocaine and a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be Cannabis Sativa were found. Again, the individuals were informed of the offences committed but remained silent.
Subsequently, the three men were escorted to the Arakaka Police Outpost. Upon arrival, the suspected cocaine and cannabis sativa were weighed in the presence of the individuals and amounted to 66.4 grams (cocaine) and 64.7 grams (marijuana).
The three men were placed into custody pending further investigation and charges. The Police are currently looking for Melville, who managed to escape the scene while the search was ongoing.
