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Police target Stinger, Rat Bat gangs
Published: Wednesday | July 28, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
Women walk along Fitzgerald Lane, which intersects Maxfield Avenue, while soldiers patrol the area during a curfew yesterday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Two of the most notorious criminal networks operating in the Corporate Area, the Stinger and the Rat Bat gangs, are the focus of the latest curfew imposed by the security forces.
The curfew, which started at 4 o'clock yesterday morning, is slated to remain in place until 4 tomorrow morning and covers a large section of lower Maxfield Avenue, Waltham Park Road and connecting roads, the home turf of the two gangs.
Already, the police have arrested three men believed to be major players in the Stinger gang, while at least 25 other persons were detained yesterday.
Police sources have identified the three arrested gangsters by their aliases - 'Zilla', 'Bulla Head' and 'Gwaan Bad'.
At least two of the three have been linked to a May 24 double murder in Whitfield Town, south St Andrew.
'Government' toppled
The police sources say the men were key lieutenants of slain Stinger gang lord Ricardo Wynter, better known as 'Government'.
Wynter was killed in a reported shoot-out with the cops last Thursday in Hellshire, St Catherine.
On Sunday, his cronies marked the third day of his death with gunfire in the Ramsey Road area, which was his home base, while other residents played music and dominoes in a preview of his wake scheduled for Friday.
The police say Wynter was wanted for questioning in connection with several murders, including that of a popular entertainer who was killed earlier this year.
"The man dem from Stinger did accuse the entertainer of links with the Rat Bat man dem, and that is why them kill him," one resident told The Gleaner.
Gangs still functional
Like the Stinger gang, the Rat Bat Crew lost its leader, Dave Sterling, alias 'Machine Man', after he was killed in a shoot-out with the police some two years ago.
But despite losing their kingpins, neither gang has disbanded, and both continue to harass law-abiding residents.
The gangsters have been accused of seizing the phones of residents and searching call logs for police contacts.
They have also demanded that residents seek approval before inviting any outsider into the communities, and have ordered women to allow gangsters to sleep inside their houses.
The police have vowed to dismantle both gangs, which have been blamed for much of the crime in the area for many years.
Published: Wednesday | July 28, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
Women walk along Fitzgerald Lane, which intersects Maxfield Avenue, while soldiers patrol the area during a curfew yesterday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Two of the most notorious criminal networks operating in the Corporate Area, the Stinger and the Rat Bat gangs, are the focus of the latest curfew imposed by the security forces.
The curfew, which started at 4 o'clock yesterday morning, is slated to remain in place until 4 tomorrow morning and covers a large section of lower Maxfield Avenue, Waltham Park Road and connecting roads, the home turf of the two gangs.
Already, the police have arrested three men believed to be major players in the Stinger gang, while at least 25 other persons were detained yesterday.
Police sources have identified the three arrested gangsters by their aliases - 'Zilla', 'Bulla Head' and 'Gwaan Bad'.
At least two of the three have been linked to a May 24 double murder in Whitfield Town, south St Andrew.
'Government' toppled
The police sources say the men were key lieutenants of slain Stinger gang lord Ricardo Wynter, better known as 'Government'.
Wynter was killed in a reported shoot-out with the cops last Thursday in Hellshire, St Catherine.
On Sunday, his cronies marked the third day of his death with gunfire in the Ramsey Road area, which was his home base, while other residents played music and dominoes in a preview of his wake scheduled for Friday.
The police say Wynter was wanted for questioning in connection with several murders, including that of a popular entertainer who was killed earlier this year.
"The man dem from Stinger did accuse the entertainer of links with the Rat Bat man dem, and that is why them kill him," one resident told The Gleaner.
Gangs still functional
Like the Stinger gang, the Rat Bat Crew lost its leader, Dave Sterling, alias 'Machine Man', after he was killed in a shoot-out with the police some two years ago.
But despite losing their kingpins, neither gang has disbanded, and both continue to harass law-abiding residents.
The gangsters have been accused of seizing the phones of residents and searching call logs for police contacts.
They have also demanded that residents seek approval before inviting any outsider into the communities, and have ordered women to allow gangsters to sleep inside their houses.
The police have vowed to dismantle both gangs, which have been blamed for much of the crime in the area for many years.
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