THE Guyana Police Force has reported that, at about 11:30 hrs yesterday, during the clearing of a cargo consignment at the GNIC Wharf in Georgetown by Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Officials, a cache of arms and ammunition was found comprising two (2) AK 47 rifles, four (4) 40 pistols, eleven (11) 9mm. pistols, fifteen (15) extra magazines for the firearms, 489 various caliber rounds for the firearms and a body protection vest.

Police took into custody a 23-year-old construction worker of Buxton/Friendship, East Coast Demerara after the very frightening discovery was made in a shipment that was posted to him by someone from a United States of America address.

Jamal Murphy who, up to late last evening was still being grilled by the Police, was arrested after he showed up to receive the consignment that was in his name at a City wharf.

When the man had finished paying for the shipment and was about to uplift, Officers of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), as is customary, opened the shipment in his presence and found that there was food-stuff in the box as well as a military haversack.

When the GRA Officers opened the haversack, they stumbled on the weapons, which according to police sources, are all brand new.
In the bag were the shocking arms cache. Police sources told this newspaper that the pistols are likely to carry a very high price since they come with sensors which automatically cause the price for weapons with such features to be spiked.

Information reaching the Chronicle stated that when the young man was questioned by the police, he told them that the box was not his property but that he was only receiving the shipment for someone else.

Investigators reported to this newspaper that when Murphy was pulled in for questioning, he sounded very confident about what he was saying as he did not give them much information, saying only that he was uplifting the shipment for a man whom he knows only as a “tall red person.”

The police are of the view that the man might have been schooled by legal minds before heading to uplift the shipment. The Police yesterday carried out a search at the young man’s home where some documents were removed from the premises to aid in their investigation.

Among the documents removed were papers which suggested that the 23-year-old from the Buxton/Friendship area had received  another shipment sometime last month from the very person, but the contents of that box are not yet known.

The police are also of the view that based on the description provided by the young man, the man to whom the shipment was consigned is a person of interest to them and has been so for some time now.
The police are likely to issue a Wanted Bulletin for the man over the weekend if they are unable to locate him at the places their intelligence leads them to. (Leroy Smith)