Two held and 2,000lb of beef, pork seized by Area One agri protection cops
Published:Saturday | August 16, 2025 | 12:12 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Two men were arrested in Lilliput, St James, yesterday (Friday) by the newly formed Area One Police Division’s Agricultural Protection Branch (APB) after they were found with 2,000lb of unstamped beef and pork, which is believed to have been stolen in Trelawny.
The seizure of the meat by the APB operatives falls within the unit’s drive to dismantle praedial larceny rings operating between St James and Trelawny. The APB is expected to discard the seized meat.
Senior Superintendent of Police Carlos Russell, the officer in charge of operations in Area One, said the seizure of the meat was as a result of an intelligence-driven operation, which featured members of the St James Health Department.
“At approximately 2:30 this afternoon, a giant operation with the APB led us here into Lilliput at this location, where approximately 2,000lb of meat, that is, beef and pork, was found in freezers at this location,” said Russell on Friday. “Based on our intelligence, these are suspected stolen meats, and so we are here with the members of the health department carrying out the operation.
“Two persons have been held so far, and they will be charged for various breaches of the Public Health Act.”
Under Section 8 of the Public Health Regulations of 1998, it is an offence to manufacture, store, prepare for sale, or sell any food that is unfit for human consumption or has been condemned as unfit for consumption.
The men held during the operation are also likely to be charged under the Praedial Larceny (Prevention) Act. The Senate had previously approved amendments to the act on June 27 in order to combat the theft of agricultural produce, livestock, and fish.
Warning to consumers
Inspector Orville Bushay, the head of the APB, issued a warning to consumers to exercise extreme caution regarding where they purchase meat, as the meat could potentially be unfit for consumption due to being stolen and not properly stamped by the local health department.
“Our intelligence suggests that stolen meats are ending up in meat shops. This is a warning to persons who purchase meat, to be careful and to ensure, concerning the people who are selling you meat, that these meats are coming from legal and lawful sources,” said Bushay. “We will be relentless in our effort to track all these stolen meats and to find the culprits, so persons who are found with these stolen meats are going to be charged and taken before the court.
“Also, we are seeing more animals being tagged, and we have more people coming in to report incidents of theft, because we have been educating the farmers to let them know of our existence and that their reports will be dealt with expeditiously. As a result, we are seeing more persons coming in to give reports, about both crops and animals.”
Yesterday’s raid followed a previous operation on June 17 in which the APB arrested three men who were held with a goat in their motorcar along the Salt Marsh roadway in Trelawny. The operation took place the same day the APB was officially formed.