Clansman accused of over 100 murders in 15 months

‘Blackman’ and relatives charged

DATA PRESENTED by the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch (C-TOC) has indicated that the Spanish Townbased Clansman Gang is responsible for 103 of the 183 murders committed i n the St Catherine North Police Division during the past 15 months.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey, head of C-TOC, said that of the 134 murders in the division last year, 78 can be attributed to the gang, with a fur ther 25 of the 49 recorded since the start of the year.

Bailey reasoned t hat t he murderous rampage across the St Catherine North Division was as a result of an i ntra-gang conflict between two factions, one being led by reputed gangster Tesha Miller and the other by André Bryan, otherwise called ‘Blackman’.

“The conflict is about control of space, control of guns, extortion, as well as there has been a significant amount of contract killings,” said Bailey.

The senior police commander revealed that Bryan, his girlfriend, brother, mother and two cronies have been charged under anti-gang legislation on Monday.

JOINT OPERATION

Bailey explained that a joint operation involving the St Catherine North Proactive Investigation Unit and C-TOC began investigating the operations of the gang i n 2015.

“Thir ty-two persons were charged during the course of the investigation, and these persons will also be charged as a part of the criminal organisation. The investigation is ongoing and I can guarantee you that other persons will be brought to book at the conclusion of this investigation,” Bailey disclosed.

Bailey said Bryan and his relatives were held on March 4 during an operation at a house they rented in upper St Andrew. Investigations revealed that they were paying a monthly rental of US$1,500 (J$190,000).

All six remain in custody and are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.