Alleged drug dealer in ICU after police bust

Senior Multimedia Reporter

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A Gasparillo man known to the police remains warded in Intensive Care at the San Fernando General Hospital after he was shot during a drug bust on Wednesday.

Investigators said around 11.20 am, four police officers were on patrol in Gasparillo when they received information about armed persons conducting a drug transaction at Forres Park Trace, Claxton Bay.

The officers went to the location in a marked police vehicle.

Upon arrival, they proceeded on foot along a track about 100 feet off the roadway. There, they saw three men under a galvanised shed. Two of the men were identified as priority offenders of Lumsden Street, Gasparillo, while a third man fled the scene and managed to escape.

Investigators said when the police arrived, the alleged drug dealers pointed a firearm at officers after being ordered not to move.

Two of the officers discharged five rounds each from their TTPS-issued pistols. One of the suspects fell to the ground, and police recovered a loaded gun with three rounds of .38 ammunition.

The suspect was transported by police vehicle to the San Fernando General Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and was warded in the Intensive Care Unit under police guard.

Crime scene investigators recovered nine spent 9mm shell casings marked TTPS.

The second suspect was arrested and taken to the Gasparillo Police Station. A search for the third suspect was conducted by members of the Southern Divisional Task Force and K-9 Unit but was unsuccessful.