Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade held an emergency press conference on Wednesday at the Royal Bahamas Police Force headquarters to alert the general public of the police force’s recent findings.

According to the Commissioner, police have recovered quite a number of firearms and ammunition during separate operations over the past two weeks.

He sent a stern warning to all those in possession of unlicensed weapons and gave updates on some of the force’s biggest and most productive operations.

“On June 16 around 5:15 p.m., a major operation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Unit which resulted in the arrest of two adult males and the recovery of eight firearms,” he said.

“On Monday, June 15, alert officers from the mobile patrol division arrested three men in Kennedy Subdivision following an attempted armed robbery and in investigating this matter, we have some closure in 13 latest armed robberies and have recovered five vehicles and have also found several others.”

The commissioner also confirmed some truth in that audio file that was being circulated through social media about a robbery at the Red Cross Headquarters on Tuesday night.

Commissioner Greenslade confirmed that firearms and ammunition were also recovered as officers arrived at the scene. They have also made arrests in connection with that matter.

“Withstanding all of our good work, we recorded an armed robbery of the Red Cross Headquarters and we are totally bothered by the attitude and nerve of that bad man, who walked into the office where decent Bahamians were conducting business, held a gun to their faces, robbed them of their valuables and then left in a car. Officers on patrol were able to recover that vehicle and we also made an arrest shortly thereafter. Investigations into that matter are ongoing.”

The commissioner said he and officers from the RBPF will continue to do all that is in their power to guarantee a safer Bahamas.

He assured that officers are locking down in high crime areas and are keeping an eye on public offenders.

“These persons that are robbing in our communities, stealing and shooting our Bahamian citizens,” he said.

“They are our family. They live in our homes and they are our friends. We need to tell them enough is enough. Illegal guns kill, cause injuries and even leave people with disabilities. There are people who were shot and have not died that were disabled and will be like that for the rest of their lives. We can tell our children to cease and desist from a life of crime. The power is within the RBPF to crime, but only with the help of members of the community.”

The commissioner confirmed that hundreds of people have been arrested and thousands of guns have been recovered during operations carried out by the police force.

He said that many more operations will take place to ensure a safer community.