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alexk
Guest
An acting corporal attached to the South Western Division is under investigation for allegedly assisting in the escape of four smugglers and removing goods believed to be guns and marijuana from the smugglers’ vehicle after it was abandoned as the police chased the smugglers yesterday.
It is believed the officer facilitated the smugglers by allowing them to flee after they were confronted by another batch of officers who were on duty at Granville beach.
A source said around 8 am, officers from the Southern Division Task Force were on duty when a boat docked at Granville and four men began loading crocus bags filled with illegal goods into a silver Lancer and a blue Ford Ranger.
The officers confronted the men, who opened fire. Only one gunshot was fired by the police officers as they began chasing the men out of a private road near Granville beach. Residents hid in their homes as the gunfire rang along the private beach road.
A source said the driver of the silver Lancer reportedly missed the Granville Road and instead turned into Hilltop Road, which is a dead end. The four occupants, including a woman, were seen jumping out of the car when they realised there was no exit out the road. Confused residents said the escapees fled in the bushes but the woman ran into a residents’ house claiming she had been kidnapped.
Minutes later, the marked police vehicle pulled up and the officer loaded the illegal cargo into the marked police vehicle and sped off.
Another batch of police arrived a short while later and cordoned off the road in a bid to flush out the smugglers. But no one was arrested and the goods were not recovered.
A source said the disappearance of the goods and the strange arrival of the police corporal before the goods went missing is now the subject of an investigation.
The marked vehicle used by the police corporal was later impounded at the Cedros Police Station. Forensic officers are expected to dust it for prints. Questions are also being asked about why the officers who were on surveillance duty did not apprehend the men when the boat pulled up and why only one round was fired at the escaping smugglers. The female suspect was also said to be in police custody up to press time.