Jamaican police to get base at Yard

Detectives from Jamaica are set to be based at Scotland Yard to help combat violent Yardie drug gangs.

In an unprecedented move the specialist officers would work alongside the Met in an all-out drive against the gangs, which are behind rocketing gun crime figures.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens today revealed the plan as he visited Jamaica on a two-day fact-finding trip to help bolster the war on drug trafficking and gun crime.

The Met's Operation Trident task force against Yardie-style gangsters already works closely with the Jamaican police to gather intelligence. Detectives from the island's drugs squad may come to London in an effort to improve the flow of intelligence between the forces.

Sir John, who is in Kingston with Metropolitan Police Authority chairman Toby Harris, said they were discussing a variety of initiatives with the Jamaican authorities, including better use of technology to target drug mules, the Met providing detective training to the Jamaican force and better use of intelligence.

He added police were working closely with the Jamaican authoritiesand Customs to target gangsters who appeared to be able to move freely between the two countries. Sir John said his priority was the fight against Class A drugs, gun crime and serious criminality.

The number of firearm murders in London rose to 38 last year, a 52 per cent increase on the previous year, which included 21 "black on black" gangster killings.

In general, gun-related violence in the capital rose by 34 per cent and police say there is a growing trend for young men to carry guns almost as a fashion accessory.

Detectives from Operation Trident say shootings are now a regular occurrence in London at a rate of nearly one a day. Most go unreported because no-one is killed or seriously hurt.

Police say they go to reports of shootings only to find empty shell cases and traces of blood but little else. Often they are the result of feuds which begin on the streets of West Kingston, while scores in London are also settled in Jamaica.

The vast majority of the murders and gunfights are over drugs, in particular the massive cocaine trafficking business. Sir John said he was due to meet Jamaican security minister Dr Peter Phillips to discuss ways of combating the gangs who hire "drug mules" to ferry cocaine into Britain on airline flights.