Manchester police detain several people in Mandeville lottery scam and gun raids

Manchester police conducted several targeted operations in Mandeville aimed at recovering illegal firearms and disrupting persons believed to be involved in lottery scamming.

Officers detained several people who live at an upscale apartment along Ward Avenue. DSP Valden Amos, operations officer for the Manchester police division, said investigators have gathered enough evidence to lay charges against at least four of those taken into custody.

With violent crime linked to lottery fraud, police are urging property owners to be cautious when prospective tenants offer to pay unusually large sums of cash to rent premises.

DSP Audine Dennis, commanding officer for the parish, reinforced that warning. She said many people in Manchester own property but do not live in it, instead renting the units for profit. Scammers, she said, are taking advantage of that pattern by offering as much as two years' rent in advance.

"A lot of persons in Manchester own property but do not live in them. They rent these properties for profit. And these scammers are capitalizing on this by offering up to two years rent in advance. The average property owner will quickly jump at the chance to have that ready upfront cash. And unknown to them, they expose themselves to the probability of some of these violent acts that follow scamming and scammers," Dennis said.