The more than four-year elusive run of one of Jamaica’s most feared gangsters, 25-year-old Delano Wilmot, otherwise called ‘Prekeh Boy’, of Retrieve, Cambridge, St. James, ended on Wednesday morning when he was cut down in a hail of bullets during an exchange of gunfire between him and a police/military team.
One M16 rifle and several rounds of ammunition were seized during the incident.
Reports are that the confrontation between Wilmot and the security team occurred about 7:45a.m., when the team, acting on intelligence, was carrying out a raid in the bushes of Amity in search of the noted gangster, when they came under heavy gunfire.
The gunfire was returned and when the shooting subsided, Wilmot was found suffering from gunshot wounds to the upper body. He was later taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Wilmot, who was the reputed leader of the Retrieve or ‘Prekeh’ gang, was also a former high-ranking member of the notorious Ratty Gang, which carried out a reign of terror in Retrieve and surrounding areas. He was listed as wanted following the murder of Mark Williams in June 2016.
His profile was further highlighted on the security forces’ radar when he led an ambush of the security forces, shooting and wounding of two Jamaica Defence Force soldiers in 2017 at Retrieve during a failed attempt by the security forces to nab him.
On November 12, 2018, Richard Anderson – who was a member of the Retrieve Gang (and a former top-tier member of the Ratty Gang), wanted in the Kingston East Division – was killed during an operation in St. James to apprehend Wilmot. A Panther Arms A15 rifle was seized during that incident. Wilmot was believed to have been injured during that operation.
Since then, the gang has been linked to no fewer than 12 murders and 11 shootings.
The latest murder allegedly carried out by members of the gang was the killing of Allister Godfrey in Catadupa, St. James on July 9, 2020. Several operations were carried out by lawmen during the State of Public Emergency between 2018 and 2019 to apprehend Wilmott and members of the gang, but they managed to elude capture