Police arrest two in Cane Hall weapons haul

Four guns, one dress, a body bag, wigs, disposable latex gloves along with enough ammunition to create a great deal of havoc, were just some of the items found when police conducted an early morning raid of a house in the “Bom Bom” area of Cane Hall on August 4, 2007.{{more}} During the raid, Jamal “Cribbit” Finch and Jariel Belle, the occupants of the house, were arrested.

Belle, 19, of Paul’s Avenue, and Finch, 25, also of the Paul’s Avenue area of Kingstown, were remanded in custody after appearing at the Serious Offences Court on Tuesday before Chief Magistrate Simone Churaman.

Belle, who had been on the run from police since early July after a wounding incident, was slapped with seven firearm offence charges including possession one 30-30 caliber Winchester firearm, a nine millimeter Sig Saver pistol, 43 rounds of .38 ammunition, seven rounds of .32 ammunition, one 7.65 millimeter Walter pistol, and one round of nine-millimeter ammunition, all without a licence. He was also charged with wounding Jerrani Peters with intent on July 9. Belle pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Jariel Belle (second from left) and Jamal Finch (third from left) leaving the Central Police Station in Kingstown for the Serious Offences Court with police officer Hadley Ballantyne on Tuesday morning to answer gun and ammunition possession and other charges.

Finch, on the other hand, was slapped with five charges including possession of six rounds of .38 ammunition, one nine millimeter Smith and Wesson revolver and one round of nine millimeter lager ammunition without a licence. Finch was further charged with concealing Jariel Belle in a house, knowing that he was wanted by the police. Finch also pleaded not guilty to his charges.

Police told SEARCHLIGHT that at about 1’o clock on Saturday morning, Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department supported by members of the Special Services Unit raided the house where the defendants were.

The search by the lawmen turned up the guns and a bag full of items including video tapes, glue and gun magazines.

Belle is to reappear in court in September for trial, while Finch’s court date is October 1.

Weeks of intelligence work by the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force and the relationship with the public is what Assistant Commissioner of Police Eckron Lockhart says led to the apprehension of two men and seizure of the guns.

Lockhart told SEARCHLIGHT that with the recent spate of gun related crimes in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the Force saw it necessary to “beef” up their intelligence capacity. He said that the mounting trust being formed between the police and the public made the arrest of the two men possible.

Belle was also a victim in the recent spate of shootings that occurred in the Paul’s Avenue area. A masked gunman shot Belle in the head on April 22nd at about 10 a.m. He managed to seek refuge at a nearby shop before being carried to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

Finch too, was shot in his left arm when he was caught in a hail of gunfire that erupted in the Middle Street area of Kingstown on June 4th.

Veteran lawyer Arthur Williams is representing Belle while defence counsel Grant Connell represents Finch.

Investigations are being carried out to ascertain if the guns found were used in the Paul’s Avenue shootings.