The ammunition that was taken along with the M16 rifle stolen from a police station last month remains missing, a senior officer revealed as he also addressed allegations that officers have sold guns and ammunition to criminals.
At a police press conference on Tuesday, alongside Commissioner of Police Verne Garde and other senior officers, Superintendent Luke Defreitas disclosed that all efforts are being made to locate the more than 100 rounds of ammunition that also went missing when the powerful rifle was stolen from the Gros Islet Police Station armoury on February 15.
“We’re still working in that regard,” he said. “However, along similar lines that we were able to recover the firearm, I am hoping that in short order, we make some progress with the recovery of the ammunition.”
No details about the circumstances surrounding the recovery of the rifle have been provided. In a press statement following Sergeant Ricardo Jerson Charlemagne being charged in connection with the gun theft, the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) only stated that the weapon was retrieved “as part of an intensive investigation conducted by one of our specialised units.” It indicated that due to the legal proceedings against Charlemagne, further details regarding the recovery could not be disclosed.
On Tuesday, Defreitas addressed persistent claims that police officers have been selling firearms and ammunition to criminals. While such allegations have surfaced repeatedly over the years, the senior officer who heads the Central Division asserted that no concrete evidence has ever emerged to substantiate these claims in his 35-year tenure with the RSLPF.
“These are questions or issues that have come up from time to time…. I’ve heard these allegations from the time I would have entered the service. As to whether there has ever been sufficient evidence to proceed with an investigation along those lines, that has been very far and few between,” he said.
“However, I have been in investigations, and also the head of the investigations unit for a very long time, and I have never seen a situation where there was emerging evidence, or concrete evidence for such situations that was not dealt with.”
Regarding the matter in which Sergeant Charlemagne, a veteran officer, was implicated, Superintendent Defreitas said the evidence was sufficient to charge him in connection with the missing firearm.
He explained that the disappearance of the firearm had been discovered through the “meticulous” logging and auditing process used by the police force to track weapons and ammunition on the same day it went missing.
Defreitas said every police officer who had access to the armoury within a particular period was questioned and would have been “looked at as a suspect” before any charges were laid.
According to the superintendent, audits are conducted daily, with officers on eight-hour shifts required to hand over and take over weapons under the supervision of a senior officer. In some instances, checks are conducted every 24 hours. Additionally, inspectors and assistant superintendents in charge of divisions perform fortnightly checks, while higher-ranking officials may conduct monthly audits. These audits are then submitted to the Commissioner of Police as part of the RSLPF’s “monthly returns”.
“So there are very meticulous checks and balances in terms of these firearms,” Superintendent Defreitas insisted.
