Jamaican cops probe Cayman robbery connection
(CNS): Police in Jamaica investigating a heist in which 16 Rolex watches were stolen from a store in Kingston last week are looking at a possible connection with the robbery at Kirk Freeport in Cayman at the beginning of this year. Some of the two dozen watches taken in that evening’s robbery on 7 January from the store in the Strand Shopping plaza ended up in Jamaica. The Jamaican law enforcement agents believe that the perpetrators behind the robbery are members of a highly organised group and are working with RCIPS to dismantle the group and end the transnational crime.
Although the Kirk robbery involved four masked men, so far police have only charged one local man in connection with the crime and three others were released. A reward of $20,000 was posted by CrimeStoppers and the store for information leading to a conviction.
"Some of the Rolex watches that were stolen in the Cayman Islands recently are here. So we are now looking at previous jewellery-store robberies,” the Flying Squad Unit, Senior Superintendent Cornwall 'Bigga' Ford, told the press in Jamaica on Tuesday.
The authorities there have arrested five suspects in connection with the $7 million theft of watches from the Kingston store and have recovered 13 of the 16 Rolex watches stolen. The Jamaican police also recovered over US$150,000 and J$500,000, an illegal firearm, two licensed shotguns and 500 rounds of assorted ammunition.
Although the crime was perpetrated by just one man, the police believe the jewel heists are being organised by a criminal gang.
The news of more criminal connections between Cayman and Jamaica comes against the backdrop of an ongoing bank robbery trial here, in which one of the five defendants was arrested in Jamaica and extradited to the Cayman Islands. He will now stand trial with four co-defendants in connection with the daylight hold-up at Cayman National Bank in Buckingham Square last June, in which the robbers made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars, despite dropping a large amount of cash during the fumbled escape.
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Category: Crime
