Fernando Fredericks, a 29-year-old miner from Old Scheme Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, was arrested by a police rank at the Bartica Stelling on March 22nd, 2024. At the time, he was a passenger in a Parika-bound speedboat, a release from the police yesterday said.
During the process of arresting, the police said that Fredericks threw an object he had in his possession in a bag overboard. He was arrested and taken to the Bartica Police Station. When initially questioned, Fredericks said that the object contained marijuana and sank because he had a brick in the bag.
The police said that Fredericks was further interrogated over the weekend, during which he revealed that he lied and it was not marijuana in the bag but actually a firearm that he threw overboard.
He claimed that some time ago, he bought the firearm from someone in Venezuela and hid it on the landing while passing through Puruni. He further stated that some time ago, a man (name withheld) who had an ongoing problem with his family went to his (Fredericks’) mother’s house on the Essequibo Coast and discharged several rounds.
Consequently, Fredericks said that on March 21, he returned to Puruni and retrieved the firearm with the intention of returning to Essequibo to kill the man who fired rounds in front of his mother’s house.
After his interrogation over the weekend and confession, Police took him back to Puruni to identify the location from where he had retrieved the firearm.
Further, at about 10 pm on March 24th, 2024, with the assistance of a diver, the ranks were able to retrieve the firearm in a black bag from the river at the Bartica Stelling.
The firearm, a 9mm Luger, was shown to Fredericks, who identified it as the firearm he threw overboard. It contained five 9mm rounds of ammunition. No visible serial number was seen on the firearm.
Fredericks was told of the offence and cautioned. The firearm and ammunition were marked, packaged and lodged. He remains in custody, assisting with the investigation.
