Authorities arrested 35 people during a joint law enforcement operation in shantytowns and other areas in New Providence yesterday.
Officers attached to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Department of Immigration and the Royal Bahamas Police Force executed an island-wide sweep targeting “prolific offenders, wanted suspects” and other people believed to be associated with criminal activities.
Kirklyn Neely, who heads the Department of Immigration’s Enforcement Unit, said several people were detained for being in The Bahamas illegally, but he did not provide a figure.
Outside the House of Assembly, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames said he had not received a briefing on the operation, but suggested the public should not be surprised by it.
“This is not the first time that officers would have operated in shantytown areas,” he said.“This is part of our overall crime strategy and we will go wherever we need to go to seek out those persons who are breaking the law and who are disrupting the normal flow of our society.
“You want to be safe don’t you? I want to be.”
The operations came about two weeks ahead of the government’s August 10 deadline for residents whose homes go against the building code to move.
