Champagne being poured over cars, money tossed into the air like confetti, and high-end liquor splashed across parties in viral social media clips are fuelling concerns about a dangerous culture of flashy excess that Mandeville Mayor Donovan Mitchell says is being powered by dirty money and linked to an uptick in violence in his town.

Mitchell has alleged that lottery scamming has played a significant role in the violence, arguing that some scammers relocated to Manchester from Montego Bay, St James and other areas of western Jamaica because of intensified policing.

“I don’t go to parties but, when I go on TikTok, you see the money throwing away and liquor washing cars,” Mitchell said in an interview with THE WEEKEND STAR.