Charge or release them! Lawyer gives police ultimatum over men arrested in highway gun seizure

The attorney for two of the three men who are being held in connection with a shipment of nine guns and ammunition that was seized last Friday has given the police until tomorrow to release his clients or lay criminal charges against them.

The men, who reside in Falmouth, Trelawny, are scheduled to be interviewed by detectives tomorrow, their attorney Donnovan Collins confirmed today. 

It is unclear if the third detainee has retained an attorney.

Collins said his clients have been in custody for more than the 72 hours that cops are allowed to detain a suspect without charging them. .

The attorney said he is prepared to go to court and file an habeas corpus application on their behalf.

“So, if it is that after the question and answer tomorrow my clients are not released then I will seek an order from the court for them to be released or charged,” he told The Gleaner.

The three men were taken into custody after a hastily-arranged police team, led by Deputy Commissioner Fitz Bailey, intercepted two motor cars on the North-South Highway near the Ewarton exit in St Catherine.

A search of one of the vehicles revealed three M-16 assault rifles, five 9mm pistols, one revolver and 440 assorted rounds of ammunition.

The weapons and ammunition were cleared from the port in Kingston earlier on Friday and were destined for a consignee in Clarke's Town, Trelawny, according to law enforcement sources.

READ MORE: 'We had to act now'

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