THE Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) who is accused of smuggling an AK-47 assault rifle out of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) compound last week will not be criminally charged but he will be dealt with departmentally.

The is according to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, who told reporters on on Monday at Police Officers’ Training Centre that the officer in question is still on the job, pending the outcome of legal advice since it is his third matter to engage the GPF. He is also being investigated in two traffic related matters, one of which was caught on video and went viral on social media. According to the Crime Chief, detectives are also awaiting the return of the file from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on this same matter.

Blanhum related that other ranks, including, a Corporal were placed under close arrest which expired after 72-hours, and as such they were released. The Corporal, he said will also be charged departmentally but the lone civilian is expected to make his first court appearance soon.

Blanhum also told reporters that so far, they have been unsuccessful in tracing the origin of the weapon but the probe continues to ascertain where the AK-47 was obtained. On February 28, ranks from the CID Headquarters conducted an operation and during same, a motor car driven by a civilian was intercepted and an AK-47 rifle was found.

Subsequently, the detectives acting on further information, contacted four ranks from the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) and placed them under close arrest pending a probe. The investigation was initiated when a private vehicle drove into the CID compound and stayed there overnight. This was observed and the vehicle and its occupants were put under police surveillance. When the vehicle attempted to exit the CID compound, a search was carried out and the weapon was found.