By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

ARMED police officers in the sky and on the ground swooped in on neighbourhoods throughout Grand Bahama early yesterday morning in a huge operation that resulted in the arrest of 50 suspects.

The operation began around 1am on Tuesday, ending just before noon with the discovery and seizure of large quantities of drugs, cash, firearms and ammunition.

Forty-one men and nine women were arrested and taken into custody, and charges are expected to be brought against some people by tomorrow.

Residents asleep in their beds were awakened by the sounds of a helicopter overhead with a bright spotlight shining down on homes below, and camouflage-clad officers armed with high-powered weapons descending on targeted residences in Freeport, Eight Mile Rock, West Grand Bahama and in an area over the bridge.

Video footage of the scenes of the operation was captured by onlookers on their cellular phones and posted on social media, including the helicopter landing in “the Ghetto” area.

“It’s just like a scene you would see in the movie,” said a man watching the footage posted on Whatsapp.

The joint operation, dubbed Northern Strike, led by ACP Clayton Fernander consisted of teams from Grand Bahama, New Providence and international law enforcement partners.

During a press briefing, Mr Fernander revealed they were able to recover large quantities of drugs and money found hidden in homes in Grand Bahama.

“I am not able to give an exact count, but there were large quantities of drugs, and there was a large quantity of money that individuals could not account for that were found hidden in their homes – large amounts of US and Bahamian cash,” he said.

The senior police official also displayed the weapons that were recovered, including a .40 firearm; a .90 firearm, and an old western-style 45 handgun.

“This operation was an intelligence-led operation to targeted hot spots to disrupt criminal gangs involved in drugs and firearms trafficking,” he said.

“I am happy to be here in Grand Bahama to assist officers here.”

The operation took residents by surprise, and some watched as several people in one family in the Ghetto were arrested and led off to a police bus.

The Ghetto is a known hot spot for drugs and guns, and Mr Fernander stated that police recovered a quantity of marijuana in various pockets there with the help of the K-9 Unit.

“We were able to recover drugs in different pockets of that area, and I commend the K-9 Unit – they were stars this morning because they were able to sniff out drugs hidden in some areas the eyes would not see,” he said.

Mr Fernander stressed police would continue to conduct such operations to weed out the criminal element in communities in Grand Bahama.

“We will continue to ensure safe communities; we will continue to go after a handful of individuals that continue to wreak havoc in our communities. We will not stand by and allow them to disrupt the peace,” he said.

“You will not know the time we will strike – I must apologise to the residents in those areas, I know we woke them up this morning... and that the chopper was over some homes.”

Mr Fernander thanked the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, US Drug Enforcement Administration, US Homeland Security, US Coast Guards, and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). He also thanked the public for its support.

“We can’t do it alone. We ask you to continue to pray for us because it is not easy. We showed up to work and came here from New Providence - we left families. We are fighting one goal, and all law enforcement agencies have to continue to partner to win this fight, and we will,” he said.

ACP Samuel Butler said: “Today is a demonstration of our act of deliberate intention to weed out persons associated with criminal activities. It is a wonderful thing to be able to free communities like the Ghetto because even though it is depressed, persons want to have a safe community,” he said.