Businessman nabbed with AK-47, quantity of foreign, local currencies

Aug 13, 2024 News

Weston Pickering arrested for illegal firearm and ammunition along with large cache of foreign and local currency.

Kaieteur News – A 42-year-old businessman, Weston Pickering from Herstelling, East Bank Demerara was arrested on Sunday after police discovered a substantial amount of foreign and local currency, an illegal AK-47 assault rifle, and multiple rounds of ammunition at his residence.

In a press release, police said that ranks arrived around 18:25hrs at Pickering’s 2 Somerset Court Housing Scheme, Herstelling to conduct a search. Pickering was home during when the lawmen arrived who told him that they were at his house to search for firearms, ammunition, and drugs. Subsequently, police began a search in house where they discovered a significant amount of currency in a brown suitcase located in a room in the upper flat of the house. The following currencies were found, $11,312 Canadian currency ($1.7 million GYD),  $1,583 United States currency ($330,711 GYD), 10 Chinese Yuan ($291 GYD),  $5,120 Trinidad currency ($157,508 GYD),  $70 Barbados currency ($7,312 GYD) ,  $50 Jamaican currency ($66.52 GYD) 3,405 Pounds Sterling – Great Britain Pound ($907,893 GYD),  120 Euros ($27,388 GYD) and $480,000  GYD.

Foreign and local currencies amounted to over a million in GYD

Additionally, police discovered an AK-47 rifle with 29 live rounds of ammunition inside the magazine, wrapped in a brown towel and hidden in a washing machine on the lower flat of the property. Further searches revealed an additional 30 live rounds of ammunition concealed in a pair of black and white socks wrapped in a towel, and six live 9mm rounds of ammunition in a bedroom on the upper flat. Pickering was taken into custody, while the firearm, ammunition, and currency were transported to the Providence Police Station for processing and sealing. Investigations are ongoing.

• Ak-47 assault rifle, ammunition, arrest, East bank Demerara, Herstelling, Weston Pickering