Phantom force’ activities engaging attention of Intelligence Unit

Phantom force’ activities engaging attention of Intelligence Unit

Guyana Chronicle
November 29, 2002

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The activities of a ‘phantom force’, as perceived by the public are now engaging the attention of the Intelligence Unit. In the past the Intelligence Unit worked to recapture the February 23 escapees and their criminal cohorts who created the upsurge of crime recently, said Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon.

At a post- Cabinet media conference on Wednesday, Dr. Luncheon explained that the authorities are now extending their focus to the ‘phantom force’, since it is clear that the escapees are not the only ones responsible for the upsurge in crime witnessed locally.

“There seems to be reasonably plausible evidence to suggest that there is a body out there that is involved in criminal activities and it is not the escapees and those who have been associated with the escapees,” the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

Five most notorious bandits, Dale Moore, Shawn Brown, Troy Dick, Mark Fraser and Andrew Douglas escaped from the Georgetown Prison on Mashramani Day this year, during which one prison officer was killed and another injured.

An investigation was launched into the jail-break and many of the recommendations have already been implemented. Three of the five escapees were killed.

According to Dr Luncheon, the Administration’s Intelligence Agencies are dealing primarily with their efforts to recapture and also to address the crime wave that has been unleashed by the escapees.

“Additional attention is obviously being paid now to those other instances of criminal activities that couldn’t possibly be effected by the escapees. The search and the examinations made of the various crime scenes provided a better picture of those who are involved and to work backwards to the organisation and the principal. It is now becoming a pressing matter for the State law enforcement agencies,” he said.