Ray John suspended

Acting Superintendent of Police Ray John has been suspended from active duty with immediate effect as the police investigate questionable Antigua and Barbuda passport documents that were sent to St. Vincent last week..
John’s suspension came just hours after more than a dozen officers swooped down on his Gunthorpes home armed with a search warrant.
It is not clear what the officers were looking for in the search which lasted over two hours. OBSERVER media was on the scene when officers removed two large brown paper bags of evidence from the two-storey house.
The acting superintendent, who was on the scene at the time of the search, was dressed in his uniform as his colleagues combed through his home, yard and a vehicle parked at the back of the compound.
The police officers conducting the search included several senior officers and they were joined by sniffer dogs from the K-9 unit.
Curious neighbours watched as John accompanied his colleagues who walked around the compound that is heavily secured by guard dogs. John walked ahead of the officers and even opened the door of the vehicle for the officers to search the SUV parked in the yard.
John, who was on duty at Police Headquarters, was reportedly taken from work to his home where the search was carried out in his presence and two other occupants of the house.
The now-suspended cop was escorted back to work where he was questioned, suspended and released.
Police sources said John has been asked to return to Police Headquarters today to continue an interview about the passport matter.
Shortly after carrying out the search at John’s residence, lawmen went to a home in St. Johnstons Village and took at least two people into custody, including the mother of John’s child.
OBSERVER media was told that the woman works in the processing department of the Antigua and Barbuda Passport Office.
Our newsroom was further informed that she is tasked with handling blank passports, and data entry of pictures, expiry dates, names and other pertinent details from the passport application form before the passports are issued to the holder.
Several calls were placed to the police top brass, however at the time of going to press, it was unclear whether the two people from the St. Johnstons Village raid were released from custody.
Atlee Rodney, acting commissioner of police, could not be reached by phone.
Everton Jeffers, the deputy commissioner of police, directed OBSERVER to Inspector Frankie Thomas; however, the police public relations officer pointed our reporters back to Rodney or Jeffers.
When contacted, Steadroy Benjamin, the minister responsible for public safety also directed the newsroom back to Rodney.
Yesterday, the police hierarchy was locked in an emergency meeting. The details of that meeting were not forthcoming at the time of going to press.
Meanwhile, special constables from the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force arrived at the
V.C. Bird International Airport yesterday afternoon to join the ongoing local investigation.
The lawmen are here following last week Friday’s detention of a senior police officer who was nabbed with documents said to be of a sensitive nature.
Well-placed sources say that the documents the officer held included blank bio-pages of the Antigua and Barbuda passport.