The Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) should have already picked up certain intelligence information from their own contacts within the Underworld of Crimes on the island about Monday’s shooting incident at a Barber Shop on Gore Street in the city.
That intelligence should alert the lawmen about the possibility that some other persons can easily become the target for an execution-style killing in very short order.
The Police have not had a very good record in apprehending many of the criminal elements involved in some of the recent murders on the island that is clearly linked to the Underworld.
The most high profile case that remains unsolved is the execution of a Vincentian drug baron living in Woburn.
It is more than likely that this case has become so “very cold” that the Police Investigators will be very hard-pressed to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
However, this does not mean that our law enforcement officers do not know who pulled the trigger in many of these cases but lack the information that can successfully prosecute the culprits in a court of law.
It is extremely difficult to get elements in the Underworld of Crimes to co-operate with law enforcement to press charges against one of their own.
The rule among these criminal elements is that they settle their scores among themselves according to their own laws.
RGPF has to be very mindful that Grenada is only six months away from the annual carnival activities and the security and safety of the State have to be paramount in each and everything.
The Police have to step up their intelligence gathering and keep their eyes on some individuals in order to get a head start on anything that might impact on the security of the country.
The situation is very precarious at the moment and could be explosive at a moment’s notice.
It is not uncommon for elements in the Underworld of Crime “to go low” and at the right moment based on their own timing move to “kill” a target.
The information in our possession is that there has been an influx of illegal drugs like cocaine and Cush weed on the island in recent weeks.
It appears that a key figure that the Police should move to put under their radar is a Trinidad national who is reportedly back on the island after “disappearing” suddenly several months ago after he was shot in mysterious circumstances in Lower Morne Jaloux.
This individual did not co-operate with the Police in their investigation into that incident.
The word then in the underworld is that he knew exactly who shot him but wanted to handle the situation for himself.
He is believed to be back on the island but is moving from safe house to safe house with protection from some locals.
The Police should have a list with the names of these locals and constantly monitor them and their activities as they often provide accommodation, food and even recruit female companions for some of these foreign hit men that commit crimes on the island and lay low before making good their escape.
This Trini has been identified as a member of the SEVEN gang, a bitter rival of the Sixx Gang in the neighbouring twin island republic.
One of the persons said to be deeply involved in providing safe haven for these outside criminal elements is a well-placed professional in our society who is known to be on the police radar.
There is already some degree of fear in the city about a possible retaliation from elements linked to the South gang over Monday’s shooting at the Barber Shop on Gore Street.
The feeling is that persons associated with 4-Roads and the Carenage Ghetto area might have knowledge about the recruiting of the gunman who carried out that daring daylight shooting on Monday.
It is more than likely that this is the work of a hired hand from overseas as this is not the modus operandi of locals.
It reminds one of the manner in which the Vincy drug baron was killed in broad daylight in Woburn allegedly by two foreign assassins.
This is the kind of case that calls for real police investigation and to prove to Grenadians that our men and women in uniform are really up to the task of solving serious crimes on the island.