By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

AN employee of the Office of The Prime Minister and two others, including a 13-year-old boy, will be charged today with illegal possession of firearms.

Police arrested the people after executing a search warrant on an apartment complex on Bradley Street, Sunset Park, last week. Officers reportedly recovered nine firearms, five handguns, four high-powered weapons and a large quantity of suspected marijuana.

The Office of The Prime Minister released a statement on Friday acknowledging that an employee in the Department of Information and Technology was being investigated.

Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander said the employee is suspected of being involved in firearm trafficking, and importing weapons from the United States.

“As you could see, some of the weapons were wrapped in plastic properly secured,” he said during a press conference yesterday.

“There’s a trend we noted that some of them just came with component parts, so they are breaking down the weapons and sending them in different areas.

“We suspect that it came in from the US, and we are partnering with our partners along with the firearms unit with respect to trying to trace exactly where these weapons come from.

“The serial numbers were still attached to those weapons, and as we continue to see, the majority of our serious crimes are being committed with the use of firearms. And what we have seen in recent times, high power rifles are the weapons of choice that are being used on our streets in the commission of a number of our serious crimes.”

Commissioner Fernander said police retrieved 276 firearms this year and 7607 loads of ammunition. This includes 19 high-powered rifles, eight shotguns and 11 revolvers.

“Based on our tracing all of those weapons, you see the 270 I told you that was recovered, the majority of them have already been traced back to the US,” he said.