MINISTER of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, said that the government was contemplating a system which will involve private businesses linking their cameras to the surveillance system of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
In doing so, Benn believes that robberies and other serious crimes will be prevented or reduced significantly.
The idea to establish such a system came just six days after armed robbers made good their escape with over $38 million in local currency and $20 million worth of raw gold from Wallison Enterprise.
According to the police, the 45-year-old goldsmith and a 20-year-old female cashier were on duty at the establishment, which is located at Lot 23, Gordon Street, Kitty, when they were ‘surprised’ by the men and held at gunpoint.
It is alleged that the bandits came with a white car, which they parked north of the building, and entered the compound through the main gate. They were reportedly granted access into the building by a security guard, after pretending that they were there to sell gold.
Once in the establishment’s waiting area, they told the cashier that the small package they were carrying contained the gold they’d come to sell, and after they would have gained her confidence, they whipped out their firearms from their pants waist, and, at gunpoint, ushered her into an inner office where the goldsmith and another man were conducting some business.
Considering this incident, Minister Benn said that the added security measure of having the cameras linked to the police force’s security system would provide the GPF with added footage that could be used to not only solve crime and bring perpetrators to justice, but also to detect crimes faster.
“We are working to enhance security. You might have seen some gaps, some inadequacies with regard to the recent gold and money robbery, and we are looking for a partnership where we would have private businesses put up cameras which will be linked into the police force system so that we can review, we can track, we can follow and we could have a significant impact in relation to fighting crime in our country,” the Home Affairs Minister related.
Since the robbery occurred last Thursday, the GPF has been making significant strides in unmasking the perpetrators.
A serving member of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), and two ex-soldiers were placed before the court for their involvement in the multimillion-dollar gold heist.
Sergeant Keyon King, 32, of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, and two of Wallison’s security officers, Delroy Jackson, called “Bug”, 36, of Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara; and Peon Lee, called “Nino Brown”, 35, of Mocha, East Bank Demerara, were on Tuesday slapped with four counts of robbery.
They all appeared before Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
King was unrepresented, while his co-accused, reportedly ex-soldiers themselves, were represented by Attorneys-at-Law Dexter Todd, Dexter Smartt, and Jacy Archibald.
All three denied that on August 5, while being armed with guns, and in the company of others, they robbed Wallison Enterprise of $38 million in local currency, and $20 million worth of raw gold, property of Francis Santos Lumes.
King, who’d initially pleaded guilty to the charge, begged the court to allow him to change his plea, as, being unrepresented, he was confused as to what to say when the charges were formally read to him.
Surprisingly, the ploy worked, as the Magistrate accepted his “not guilty” plea, though not necessarily his claim that he had no prior knowledge of the robbery.
The trio was also slapped with three other charges, for allegedly relieving, at gunpoint, Fernanda Carmichael of a cell-phone worth $350,000; Francis Santos Lumes of gold jewellery and cash amounting to $224,000; and William Batista DaSilva of a cell-phone valued $60,000. The three were all remanded to prison until August 24.
As investigations into the matter continue, Crime Chief, Senior Superintendent Wendell Blanhum, noted, on Tuesday, that the police are in search of two other suspects believed to have been involved in the robbery.
He explained that the plan was hatched by Lee, who’s the company’s Chief of Security, while Jackson, a security officer on duty at the time it was executed, reportedly confessed that it should have gone down on Wednesday, August 4, but because the owner’s family was there, it was done the following day instead.
