Two Killed in Mandeville Taxi Shooting as IC Leaves Seven Cases Dormant

A gunman who boarded a taxi as a passenger shot and killed two people in Mandeville on Saturday night, police say, while two others were wounded when the attacker opened fire on the vehicle’s seven occupants.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force identified the dead as 24-year-old nursing student Danique Punal of Hart East district and 21-year-old Sadeefa Henry of Greenvale. Preliminary accounts place the attack about 7:30 p.m. as Punal and Henry rode in a Toyota Voxy operating as a public passenger vehicle on the Mandeville-to-Royal Flat route. The man left the taxi at a stretch of Caledonia Road known as Horseshoe Curve, then fired on those still inside. The injured were taken to Mandeville Regional Hospital, where Punal was pronounced dead on arrival and Henry later died from his wounds.

In a separate matter, US Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than US$53,800 in undeclared currency from a traveller departing for Kingston on July 1 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The passenger had indicated they were not carrying currency. Homeland Security Investigations responded, and the individual was arrested and charged federally with money laundering under Title 18, US Code Section 1956. Authorities have not named the traveller.

Daniel Alonso, CBP director of field operations for the Miami and Tampa field offices, said criminal organisations often use bulk cash smuggling to move illicit proceeds across borders and that officers work with partners to disrupt that activity. CBP noted there is no cap on how much currency travellers may carry into or out of the United States, but amounts above US$10,000 must be declared on FinCEN Form 105. False or missing declarations can bring seizure plus civil or criminal penalties.

Meanwhile, the Integrity Commission reported it cannot locate seven former public officials charged with failing to file statutory declarations for various periods. In its annual report for the 2025/2026 financial year ending March 31, the anti-corruption body said the matters—more than six years old—have been marked dormant until fresh information emerges. At a rare press conference at its St. Andrew offices last Tuesday, the Commission would not name the former officials or the posts they held. Kelly Ann Murdock, a prosecutor in the Commission’s corruption prosecution division, said she could not identify them offhand and would not speculate.

Public officials earning at least $12 million a year, holding gazetted posts, or otherwise covered by the Integrity Commission Act must file yearly declarations of income, assets and liabilities. The filing threshold was raised from $3.5 million in December 2023 by a parliamentary order.

A case is treated as dormant after repeated failed attempts to serve a summons, under an internal division policy. Six of the dormant files reached the Corruption Prosecution Division in the fourth quarter of 2020/2021 and two in the third quarter of 2021/2022. One file was removed in the latest financial year’s fourth quarter after the former official was found, brought to court and pleaded guilty. The CPD had received no further leads on the remaining seven by the time of the report, though it sought help from the Investigation Division’s intelligence and witness management unit to revive them.

Dr Gavin Myers, principal director of National Integrity Action, contrasted that stance with the Commission’s handling of former science, technology and special projects minister Dr Andrew Wheatley. An investigation report and indicative ruling tabled in Parliament on June 17 showed the CPD recommended illicit enrichment and other charges after an 89-page probe found his assets over 11 years exceeded lawful earnings by more than $164 million. Myers said he wanted a similar public approach on the dormant files and opposed shielding reputations at the cost of accountability where people are alleged to have broken the law.