Insisting that Bahamians need to "wake up and take a stand", Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade yesterday begged for the cooperation of the public and others as authorities note an uptick in trafficking of high-powered weapons and narcotics in The Bahamas.

Greenslade said the Royal Bahamas Police Force has been playing its role in the crime fight and doing "everything to the letter of my policing plan".

The commissioner said that plan has produced good results.

"Once I have played my role, it's for other people in the country to play their role," he said during a press conference.

He said police have taken a stand and begged the public to do the same.

"Yes, I am going to say it again, I am begging," Greenslade said. "I cannot be the only person in this country that understands something is fundamentally wrong with what we show you."

Since October 2015, police seized more than 200 illegal firearms, many linked to serious crimes, including murder, Greenslade said. More than 100 illegal weapons and 2,100 rounds of ammunition have been seized since January. Most of the weapons were seized on New Providence.

On the tables and floors of the Paul Farquharson Centre's conference room were high-powered weapons ranging from AK-47s, Tech-9 machine guns, AR-15 rifles to .45 mm and 9 mm pistols.

Greenslade said while he has been castigated on several occasions over crime, the media and public should know that "I cannot work miracles".

"We are working our fingers to the bone," he said. "We are working until we are blue in the face. [We are] going after bad people in our communities; people [who] are your sons and daughters, our relatives and friends, all of us... We are taking these weapons of death out of their hands."

As it relates to drugs, Greenslade said police are concerned about the large amounts of cocaine that have been seized by police in recent months.

While he did not provide statistics, Greenslade pointed to several large seizures in recent weeks.

Last Thursday, police arrested three airport employees and a construction worker after the authorities allegedly found 65 pounds of cocaine on one of the employees who was boarding a flight to Fort Lauderdale.

On Sunday, police allegedly found one kilo of cocaine on an American woman who arrived in Grand Bahama from Pompano Beach, Florida.

A Grand Bahama man was also arrested on Sunday in connection with two kilos of cocaine.

Greenslade said "we need to stop what is happening in this country or we are going to lose the country". He called on parents and guardians to stop shielding those involved in criminal activity.

"The way we are behaving is disgraceful and we need to check ourselves," Greenslade said. "You know what you see in your homes. You know what you see in your children's possession. You know what you see in their cars.

"Don't go to church and pray about that. God can't hear your prayers. That's a little colloquialism. But, God can't hear any prayers like that. You have to first come to repentance.

"Tell your son, 'Turn that gun in to the pastor or leave that where pastor could find it'.

"...We need to turn them in."

Royston Jones Jr.

Guardian Staff Reporter

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