Law enforcement authorities in Jamaica are collaborating closely with their US counterparts as investigations intensify into the mass murder of eight Jamaicans in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon on Sunday.
On Monday Prime Minister Andrew Holness disclosed that individuals now overseas are implicated in the mass shooting which left nine other individuals nursing gunshot wounds.
It’s understood an ongoing gang conflict led to Sunday’s reprisal attack.
The Prime Minister has vowed that no stone will be left unturned in bringing those responsible to justice.
Nora-Gaye Banton reports.
The National Security Minister disclosed there are now 185 active gangs in Jamaica.
This is down from a high of more than 300 operating in the country.
It’s understood some of the gangsters influencing murders in Jamaica are overseas.
The security forces believe at least one of the masterminds of Sunday’s attack lives in the southern United States.
Another is incarcerated in Jamaica.
It’s understood one of the masterminds is the leader of a prominent gang in Clarendon.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has stressed that the nature of the gang conflict in Jamaica means that in many instances these criminal enterprises are operating in a trans-national manner and across different borders.
Last November, the government provided a list of more than 30 names to the US Department of Justice, as local police stepped up their efforts to go after those involved in the commission of local crimes.
It’s not immediately clear whether the suspected mastermind of Sunday’s attack was one of those previously brought to the attention of US law enforcement.
But Nationwide sources say that cooperation with the Americans is expected to bear significant fruit as the Jamaican security forces execute the government’s new directive to launch an all out assault on gangs in the country.
The Prime Minister says despite recent successes in dismantling gangs, it’s clear more needs to be done to completely degrade them.
Members of the police high command declined to speak to the matter on the record, citing the delicate stage of the investigation.
A surge operation is now underway in sections of Clarendon, amid a curfew.
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