Eight people, including a police officer, were arrested on Monday January 17 in Guadeloupe, as part of an investigation into the violent unrest around the health crisis that shook the island last November, said the Pointe prosecutor's office. -à-Pitre in a press release.
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The dragnet comes within the framework of a "
preliminary investigation
" for "
criminal association with a view to committing one or more crimes committed in an organized gang
" which was entrusted to the local police and judicial services as well as to the IGPN (the General Inspectorate of the National Police), said the prosecution.
Without giving more information on the status or the role of the arrested police officer, the prosecutor of Pointe-à-Pitre, Patrick Desjardins declared to have noted "
complicity within the police
".
Live ammunition
The defendants are suspected of having actively participated in the organization and preparation of the urban violence which took place in Pointe-à-Pitre, Baie-Mahault and in the neighboring municipalities during November and December 2021, and in particular in the night of November 26 to 27 in Pointe-à-Pitre.
That night, police had come under fire from live ammunition in several areas of the city's metropolitan area, during a series of riots and looting by local gangs on the sidelines of a strike movement against the vaccination obligation.
