LOCAL law enforcement officers are on the lookout for a modern firearm which resembles a cellular phone.
The firearm, called the mobile phone gun, is able to fire four .22 calibre rounds and is triggered by pressing the key pad.
Assistant police commissioner in charge of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, Les Green, said local cops had been informed about the new weapon by the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
"The circulation came from the FBI. Those reports come out on a regular basis," Green told the Observer yesterday.
The mobile phone gun has not yet surfaced on local soil but investigators say they are taking no chances.
"We have not seen any yet but technology moves on so quickly," Green said.
Senior Superintendent Elbert Nelson of the National Intelligence Bureau said while the police are aware of the new weapon, officers on the beat need to make themselves familiar with what to look out for.
"We have been made aware of this new mobile phone gun but not enough is known about it," Nelson said.
The police have since put Customs officials on the alert.
"We have been advising our stakeholders at our ports of entry to look out for them," Nelson said.
However, head of customs, Danville Walker said he was not aware of the existence of the weapon. "I have no knowledge of that," Walker told the Observer.
The US Department of Homeland security, Interpol, the FBI, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the US Customs Service are all aware of the new gun and have sent warnings to law enforcement agencies worldwide to look out for the weapon.
European airport authorities have already implemented systems to x-ray all cellular phones and the technology is expected to be put in place worldwide.
The new gun can be identified by its extra weight and is loaded by twisting the phone in half. The .22-calibre rounds fit into the top of the phone under the screen. The lower half, under the keyboard, holds the firing pins. The bullets fire through the antenna by pressing the keypad, and it comes complete with a firing pin and c**king lever.
The new guns are suspected to have been made in Yugoslavia and were first discovered in Holland when Dutch police stumbled on a large cache.
