By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of State for National Security Keith Bell yesterday accused some cash for gold operators of melting down stolen gold jewellery, within an hour of receiving it, to prevent being prosecuted and arrested.

According to Mr Bell, the  Police have linked the cash for gold and copper businesses with the high number of robberies, house breakings and stealings being recorded in the country. He said there is no doubt that there is a connection between crime and these types of businesses.

In fact Mr Bell said according to the latest statistics, January 1 to June 11, 2013, of the 506 armed robberies recorded 299 or 59 per cent of persons were targeted specifically for their jewellery. Of the 157 robberies, 41 per cent were solely for gold and silver jewellery and of 1,028 housebreakings, 423 of the homes were targeted for the precious metal.

He said an investigation conducted last year by the police also revealed that some Cash for Gold operators are adding to the theft problem rather than reporting the matters to police.

“During the operation an assortment of jewellery was confiscated from each establishment valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Several persons, including operators, were taken into custody. We also found that the majority of persons selling the jewellery have outstanding warrants issued by the courts. The second thing is that cash is given far below the actual value of the jewellery. When the police ran the operation they seized a number of packages, earmarked for the United States and Jamaica, ready to go, already melted down,” he said.

“Police reports also revealed that some of the operators melt down the gold items within the hour of purchasing them to avoid being arrested and prosecuted. As far as the law is concerned, they are just as guilty as the perpetrators who committed the crime itself. What is also amazing is that these Cash-for-Gold businesses are also popping up at residential homes that operate by appointment only and offer private one-on-one sessions. This raises several fundamental questions, who gave these people the licenses to operate? So here it is, the police are telling you there is a challenge in this area and you have another entity giving out licenses, so how can we complain? I fully support the immediate closure of these places.”

Mr Bell said he will be working with the Attorney General’s Office and the Commissioner of Police to close these businesses.