Voodoo shrine uncovered in lotto scam operation

A voodoo shrine.

AVOODOO shrine along with several documents were uncovered on a premises in Rose Heights, Montego Bay in St James during an operation by the Lottery Scam Task Force. The occupants, a Jamaican man and his wife, who is a Haitian national, were both arrested.

According to Sergeant Kevin Watson, the media liaison officer for the Lottery Scam Task Force, on Thursday, during the operation, the police discovered what appeared to be a voodoo shrine in a section of the house. In this area, special occult candles were lit and a container with some kind of dark mixture was seen, as well as pieces of papers with the names and addresses of persons who apparently reside overseas.

The man admitted that he was a spiritual worker and that his reason for having the information in his possession was that he was doing his job. The wife, who is from Haiti, expressed that she had voodoo in her blood and that it was in her culture, but she had nothing to do with the information, and that all she does with voodoo is to talk to her dead parents who died in the earthquake in 2010.

MORE THAN 20 ARRESTED

In the meantime, the police are reporting that since Wednesday, the Lottery Scam Task Force carried out a series of operations across the parishes of St. James, Westmoreland, Hanover and Trelawny, which resulted in the arrest of more than 20 persons for their suspected involvement in lottery scamming activities.

During the operation, several high-end smartphones were seized, along with documents containing identity information of persons who reside overseas, as well as US$3,500 and JA$40,000.

The breakdown of the arrests is as follow:

Five persons arrested in Wiltshire, Trelawny.

Five persons arrested in Water Works, Westmoreland.

Eight persons arrested in Rose Heights and Sprint Mount, St James. I Five arrested in Hanover. I Of the total arrested, six are females and 17 males.