Foreigners held in illegal gun find

Two foreign nationals are now in police custody following the discovery of an unlicensed firearm with matching rounds in a vehicle in the North West District (NWD), along with spent shells nearby.

According to a press release, around 4.30 pm on Friday, acting on information received, police stopped and searched a vehicle at Matthew’s Ridge, during which they found an unlicensed .38 revolver and 12 matching rounds. The release said further enquiries led to a search in another area in Matthew’s Ridge, where 9 spent shells were found, which is believed to have been discharged from the firearm found.

As a result, the release said, two foreign nationals who are employed with a mining company in the area have been arrested. The men were originally placed in the lockups at Matthew’s Ridge Police Station, but had to be removed and placed at another station, as they reportedly behaved disorderly and also damaged the lockups at the former.

When Stabroek News contacted residents in the Matthew’s Ridge area, we were informed that at around the same time the ammunition were found, there was an incident in the vicinity of Canadian-owned Reunion Manganese Inc, in which two drunken Russian employees of a gold mining company in the area began shooting in the air and causing a ruckus in the nearby community. Reports are that the men were arrested and are currently in police custody, and are supposed to be transferred to Georgetown.

Residents in the area also aired their concerns about the Russians from the same mining company as the two, who they are claiming just arrived in the country and have already been equipped with firearms which they have been using as they please “they just shooting wild west”.
Enquiries are in progress.