Police officers during Friday’s operation.
About eight males who were brought into custody during a massive joint police operation in Castries on Friday, July 10 have been released, Acting Assistant Commissioner in Charge of Crime and Intelligence, Milton Desir, has told St. Lucia News Online (SNO).
Contrary to other news reports, Desir said no one was officially arrested during the operation. He said the men were questioned and released.
The senior cop said the Friday afternoon operation was carried out by officers from the Special Services Unit (SSU), Drugs Squad, Criminal Investigations Department, and the Major Crimes Unit in Wilton’s Yard, popularly known as the Graveyard.
Desir said several small quantities of marijuana were recovered in the operation, which involved the searching of homes, vehicles and individuals in Wilton’s Yard. A road block was set up on Chaussee Road to facilitate the exercise.
The operation was in response to a wave of homicides and shootings that have claimed the lives of at least four people from communities in the vicinity of Wilton’s Yard, over the past several months.
Desir said the police is planning to carry out more operations, but declined to say where and when they will take place.