**ROSEAU, Dominica, Jun 16, CMC** – Dominican law enforcement authorities Monday vowed to dismantle a gun-running syndicate after the police said that nearly 50 guns, including assault rifles, had been seized at ports across the island since January this year.

The police have also warned that they “will do what they have to do within the ambit of the law” to curtail the illegal gun trade, while urging members of the public, if they see something, to say something to get rid of the illegal firearms.

Acting Police Commissioner, Lincoln Corbette, told a news conference that apart from the firearms seized so far, the police are engaged in an investigation into the importation of a large quantity of firearms and ammunition into Dominica.

“I can report that the Firearms Investigative Unit is currently conducting investigations into the importation of a large quantity of firearms and ammunition into the state. This unit comprises members of the Dominica Police Force, the Customs, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), among other government organisations,” he said, adding, “Due to the ongoing investigations into this matter, I won’t go into details.

‘However, during the period January 23 of this year to June 14 of this year, a total of 42 firearms and 220 rounds of ammunition were intercepted at the ports of entry into Dominica. Among those firearms are two assault type rifles, AR-15s.”

Corbette told reporters that these rifles “are weapons of war, equivalent to the M-16 as carried by soldiers,” adding that also so far this year, police have intercepted seven firearms and 69 rounds of ammunition from the hands of suspected criminals.

“So that brings it to 49 firearms and 289 rounds of ammunition that have been removed from the hands of criminals,” Corbette said, adding that “these seizures have led to the arrest of 21 individuals for possession of firearms and trafficking of firearms”.

He said seven of those arrested and charged have been convicted, while the other matters are pending in the courts.

National Security Minister Rayburn Blackmoore told the news conference that the authorities are working with regional and international law enforcement partners to dismantle the syndicate, acknowledging that “certainly we have a challenge with illegal firearms.

“Certainly there is a syndicate and the origin of which we are committed to dismantle,” Blackmoore said, noting that “working in concert with our regional and international law enforcement agencies, we shall continue to do that”.

He said that the interception of the illegal firearms and ammunition in the “recent past” demonstrates that the “processes and systems we have put in place are working.

“The coordination we have been able to do with our regional and international law enforcement agencies is working,” he said, adding that “the intelligence we have been able to cultivate is also very effective”.

Blackmoore said that the government had been able to invest an estimated EC$2.7 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37) in acquiring scanners that are now installed at all the ports of entry here.

He said training is also being provided to local law enforcement officials so as to trace illegal firearms.

Blackmoore appealed to citizens with illegal weapons to surrender them to the police, adding that those persons engaged in obstructing the police while they are carrying out their duties should “behave yourselves.

“While the police are trying to protect you, you are obstructing the police. Those of us with children, who come home with bikes and expensive Nikes and stiff like that and not working anywhere, you should ask them where they get the money from.

“The onus is on us to do what we have to do, the churches, the schools, all those professional fraternities, silent on matters of significance and loud on other matters of politics. You have a role to play,” Blackmoore said, adding that “you are not playing that role for (Prime Minister Roosevelt) Skerrit and Blackmoore, you are playing that role for yourself”.

Blackmoore said Dominica had a recent gun amnesty programme that was meant to allow persons with illegal firearms to bring them to the police without fear of being prosecuted.

“You made a rational decision to keep your firearm. So you must feel the full brunt of the law when you are caught with illegal firearms. I am calling on everyone, including the courts, to take a serious view of this matter.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the laws concerning illegal firearms in this country are very stringent. As we speak, we are looking at the laws to further strengthen them,” he said, adding that the penalty for trafficking illegal firearms carries a sentence of 35 years in jail or a fine of EC$700,000.

“That is the penalty spelt out in law…so it is for all of us to play our part and to have an appreciation of the magnitude of this matter,” he told reporters.