Holness sends chilling warning to criminals

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has declared an all-out offensive against gangsters, gun smugglers, and violent offenders, making it clear that the security forces are coming for them.

"You have no hiding place! All the people who are importing guns into Jamaica, whether you live here or cooperate with people abroad, you have no hiding place. I want that message to go out very carefully," the prime minister warned.

Holness, who was addressing the Manchester Chamber of Commerce awards banquet on Saturday at the Bloomfield Professional Centre in Mandeville, made it clear that his administration is relentless in its fight against crime.

"Jamaica is on a solid pathway to tackle the gangs, which for a long time believed they had free space and free rein. None of that in Jamaica," he said.

Speaking to a room of business leaders, Holness emphasised that Jamaica has significantly ramped up its national security efforts. Investments in high-tech equipment, intensive training for security forces, and international partnerships have led to major breakthroughs in dismantling criminal networks.

The results are already showing. In the last month alone, massive shipments of illegal weapons and contraband were seized at the nation's ports, preventing deadly firepower from hitting the streets.

"Be assured that as prime minister, I stand 100 per cent behind the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). In murders, we saw a decline by nine per cent in 2023; in 2024, we saw a decline of 19 per cent and, year to date, we are seeing a decline of 35 per cent," Holness noted.

Backing up the prime minister's stance, Commissioner of Police Dr Kevin Blake stressed that the steep decline in murders is no accident. Instead, it is the result of a calculated, data-driven policing strategy targeting Jamaica's most dangerous criminals.

"Among these many things is the focused deterrence strategy that we have skilfully adapted," Blake wrote in the Police Force Orders.

This aggressive policing tactic zeroes in on "high-risk individuals"--repeat offenders deeply entrenched in networks of organised violence.

"These high-risk individuals have our undivided attention," Blake declared. "They have now become our focus, as we seek to deter others from entering, and continuing a life of crime."