Joint Services Patrol captures would-be executioners

– Lodge Gang’ members held

Following a car chase and the exchange of gunfire, ranks from the Joint Special Operations Group (JSOG) last night apprehended three suspected gang members who were reportedly on their way to execute a woman because of a soured drug deal.
A taxi driver is reportedly among the detained men, who a senior police official said, belong to a group known as “The Lodge Head gang.” The senior official said that the JSOG team came under fire during the operation.
The drama reportedly began shortly before 17.00 hrs, when police officials received word that gunmen were planning to kill a female shopkeeper who resides in East La Penitence. Acting on information, a heavily armed JSOG team tracked down a taxi with three male occupants on Mandela Avenue, near West Ruimveldt.
Police said that the occupants shot at the ranks, while trying to avoid capure. The ranks returned fire, and the chase eventually ended after the taxi crashed near Rasville.
The suspects were all unarmed when arrested, but police said that the men were seen tossing objects out of the taxi just before the vehicle crashed. At press time, ranks were still scouring the scene.
A Rasville resident recalled seeing three men lying on the ground, surrounded by police and army ranks. They were eventually taken to the Ruimveldt Police Outpost.
The owner of the taxi service confirmed that a vehicle had been impounded. He was unable to say whether the driver was in custody, since the man was not answering his cell phone. According to the owner, the driver was not on company duty when the taxi was impounded.
While not confirming reports about the execution plot, the senior official who spoke to Kaieteur News said that police have had the “Lodge Head Gang” under surveillance for some time. The official identified Kevin Fields, slain during a botched robbery in 2014, and Sherwyn Barrow, gunned down in East Ruimveldt a few months ago, as members of this gang.
“They (the gang) were under surveillance for some time…We’re going all out to dismantle this gang.”
There have been at least 17 execution-style killings for the year and at least 104 murders. Police had reported a 100 percent increase in execution killings up to the end of last July, in comparison with the same period last year.