At the end of each month, GB News will publish a police round-up, comprised of crime news throughout the northern islands, including Grand Bahama, Abaco and Bimini.
Guns seized, three arrested
As a result of Operation Cease and Desist, police on Grand Bahama confiscated high-powered weapons and arrested three males from the Freeport area.
On August 18, acting on information, police stopped a black Honda with three male occupants in the Queen’s Highway area.
On searching the vehicle, police found a sealed, brown box in the trunk found to contain an AR15 assault rifle, a Micro Draco AK47 assault rifle, with a magazine containing six live rounds of 7.62 ammunition.
The three suspects were handcuffed, taken to jail and later charged before Magistrate Debby Ferguson.
Tristan Dorsette, 31, of Nansen Avenue; Alex Neely, 22, of Grenfell Avenue; and Ian Walkin, 30, of Man O War Circle, were each charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of ammunition, and importing of firearms into The Bahamas.
The three accused all pleaded not guilty.
Dorsette was released on a $9,000 bail and fitted with an ankle monitor.
Neely was granted bail of $8,000 and he, too, was outfitted with an ankle monitor. Both had to pay $1,000 cash prior to being released.
Walkin was remanded in custody until the trio’s next court date, which is set for November 1.
Armed robbery
Police continue to search for a slim, dark, ski mask-wearing male who robbed three females in the early morning hours of Saturday, August 20 in the Columbus Drive area of Freeport.
The women reported that they were sitting in a vehicle outside a residence around 1 a.m. when the male approached, brandishing a firearm and demanding cash.
The frightened women handed over their handbags, which they reported contained cash and other personal items. The culprit fled the scene on foot, leaving his victims unharmed, police said.
Weapon seizure at airport
On August 11, a female American visitor was arrested at Grand Bahama International Airport after the screening and subsequent search of her luggage turned up a black G2s Taurus 9mm Pistol with a magazine containing nine rounds of ammunition, police said.
La Jewel Harbin, 56, of Mattoon, Illinois, appeared before Magistrate Charlton Smith and pleaded guilty to possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition. She was fined $2,000 and $1,000, respectively, or will have to spend months in prison on each charge.
Drug arrests
Police arrested one man on Abaco and two men on Grand Bahama for possession of dangerous drugs.
On August 8, the Abaco male was taken into custody in the area of Leonard Thompson International Airport after a search of his vehicle found four wrapped packages suspected to be cocaine with an estimated street value of $196,000, police said.
Two suspects were arrested in Eight Mile Rock after officers on routine patrol stopped a vehicle for traffic violations, police said.
Police said they saw the driver tossing an object into a bushy area, so they asked the two occupants to accompany them to the spot where the item was thrown.
Police said they recovered a bag with 19 small brown paper packets containing a white powdery substance suspected to be cocaine with an estimated street value of $152,000.
The two men were charged with being in possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.
Police have yet to release any names.
Suspicious vape pens
On August 12, police on Abaco were called to Leonard Thompson International Airport to investigate a suspicious package.
Police said it contained 11 packs of vape pens suspected to contain THC oil.
Renaldo Beckford, 35, of Murphy Town was arrested for possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.
Freeport meth arrest
Last week, a woman was arrested after officers discovered suspected methamphetamine inside a Quaker Oats box in the kitchen of a residence in Freeport, police said.
Drug enforcement officers were executing a search warrant at the Cadwallader Jones Drive address. The drugs weighed 1.8 pounds with an estimated street value of $17,600, according to police.
No names have been released and the investigation continues.
Eight arrested in immigration sweep
Operation Southern Early Bird, carried out jointly by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the Bahamas Immigration Department, resulted in the arrests of seven males and one female on Abaco on August 12, authorities reported.
The operation consisted of a road check on Ernest Dean Highway from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
In the courts
Kevin Honore, 30, of no fixed address, appeared before Magistrate LaQuay Laing on August 26 and was charged with five counts of causing damage by fire and six counts of endangering property by negligent use of fire.
Honore pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Police say Honore was responsible for blazes that occurred in the Freeport area between August 15 and August 24.
John Grey Chery, 43, of Pinders Point, appeared before Magistrate Simone Brown and was charged with rape and causing harm.
He was denied bail and remanded in custody until November 28.
