Warning!

SENIOR Superintendent of Police (SSP) Oral Pascoe is urging agricultural thieves to abandon their criminal activities and find legitimate employment, warning that the police intend to intensify their crackdown on offenders amid an increase in large-scale livestock theft across Jamaica.

His warning comes as the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Agricultural Protection Branch (APB) is reporting 1,424 arrests for agriculture-related offences islandwide so far this year, a more than 600 per cent increase from the approximately 200 arrests during the corresponding period in 2025.

“My warning to the thieves is that they need to change the profession of stealing agriculture produce for a living, because we are sharpened and we are determined to ensure that the farmer benefits from what they do,” Pascoe declared on Sunday in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.