Two arrested for gun possession

Murder and vehicular homicide were not the only crimes faced by city police over the weekend and at a press briefing this morning the top man on Queen Street elaborated.

Asst. Supt Crispin Jeffries, O.C. Eastern Division
?We are making an effort to appeal to the friends and family of these people to encourage them to act lawfully and desist from any act of violence in the streets of Belize City.?

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
It may not have been a murder but the police high command strongly believes the arrests of two high profile individuals may have prevented further blood shed between two rival groups. The accused, Arthur Young and Kenneth Flowers, better known as Big Tom, have been charged with the Possession of a Firearm, Ammunition and Drugs.

Crispin Jeffries
?The arrests were as a result of a police interception of a vehicle that they were in on Friday. We know for a fact because of conversations with these individuals that there have been rivalling comments and actions by them and others against them that we saw the need to address. This morning we spoke with Arthur Young and we spoke with Kenneth Flowers. As a result of that meeting this morning both parties have been informed that the community is very much concerned and we are concerned for their safety hence the reason we wanted highlight and sensitive these things.?

According to Officer in Charge of Eastern Division, Assistant Superintendent of Police Crispin Jeffries, in another incident over the weekend, authorities have in custody a young man after they found this live hand grenade.

Crispin Jeffries
?We suspect that these are two separate incidents, but they are coming out of groups that we hear and understand that are rivalling each other and are in fact creating some kind of threat to the Belizean society, especially Belize City. We know for a fact that since we intercepted those groups on Friday we prevented some sort of street rivalry, but if we had allowed them to engage at each other, because we understand that rivalling groups were riding around, then we could have had some serious violent actions on the streets of Belize City.?

As the police continue to intervene to prevent further street violence from erupting in the old capital, they are also trying to find the individuals who deliberately torched two vehicles over the weekend.

Crispin Jeffries
?We do not believe that the two vehicles that were burnt are connected. They were at separate locations at separate times. One was in the vicinity of Wesley College and the other one was at Raccoon Street Extension.?

Twenty-nine year old Kenneth Flowers and thirty-two year old Arthur Young have been charged with Possession of an Unlicensed Firearm and Ammunition as well as Drug Trafficking after a police search yielded a loaded nine millimetre Ruger pistol and a small plastic bag with suspected crack cocaine. Rounding out a busy weekend of crime, there were two other non-fatal shootings in the city, both on Sunday night. No arrests have yet been made in either incident.