Cops Arrest Triggerman In 5-Year Murder Investigation Stemming From Arms Deal Gone Sour  

Jamaica News: Investigators from the St. Catherine South Police Division have arrested and charged a man who was wanted in relation to the 2015 murder of Teno Smith of Old Harbour, St. Catherine, which reportedly stemmed from a firearms deal that went awry.

Twenty-nine-year-old Travis Sawyers, otherwise called ‘Chembe’, of Bamboo Ridge district, St. Catherine was charged with Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Wounding with Intent, Shooting with Intent, Robbery with Aggravation, Illegal Possession of Firearm and Ammunition

Reports from the Portmore Police are that on Saturday, May 23, 2015, Smith and two other men agreed to meet Sawyers at a premises in Bartons, St. Catherine to purchase an illegal firearm. However, the transaction went awry when Smith was attacked by Sawyers and his cronies, who robbed him of the cash agreed for the purchase. Smith and another man were shot and injured and taken to hospital, where Smith was pronounced dead. The other man was treated and released and the third person managed to escape unharmed.

Smith’s body was subsequently found in bushes in Bannister, St. Catherine on Sunday, May 24, 2015 by passers-by who informed the police. Investigations led to the arrest of two of Sawyers’ accomplices, who are currently before the Home Circuit Court. Sawyers, who had been on the run since the incident, was apprehended on Wednesday, October 28 in an intelligence-led operation at his home in Bamboo Ridge, St. Catherine.  His court date is being finalised.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is committed to the dismantling of gangs and the activities of those persons and institutions that support them. Regardless of how long these investigations take, we will continue to pursue them and bring the perpetrators to justice. We encourage well-thinking members of the public to share any information they have that may be useful to any on-going police investigation.