Jamaica’s most wanted man is deeply involved in the practice of voodoo, witchcraft and obeah and has made many trips by speedboat to the French-speaking Caribbean island of Haiti, a retired police officer has told the Jamaica Observer.

Marlon Perry, otherwise called ‘Duppy Flim’ (also referred to as Duppy Film), is one of the key players in the drugs for guns trade between Jamaica and Haiti, local police have confirmed. But the native of Western St Thomas is also wanted by police in Haiti for murder, the

Sunday Observer has learnt. However, the Jamaica Constabulary Force High Command said that it was unable to verify this.

“Yes, we have information that he is heavily involved in voodoo,” stated Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of crime Glenmore Hinds.

Perry has eluded Jamaica’s security forces since the December 22 killing of two policemen in the community of Poor Man’s Corner, just outside the Western St Thomas town of Yallahs. Corporal Kenneth Davis of the constabulary’s Protective Services Division, and Constable Craig Palmer, who was assigned to Kingston Western, were cut down, allegedly by Perry, as they played dominoes outside a wholesale.

Overall, Perry has been implicated in the murders of 16 individuals, the latest being former National Works Agency Parish Manager for St Ann Theos Blake, aged 30, who was shot in St Thomas on March 27. Blake is the nephew of Deputy Commissioner of Police Clifford Blake. He was buried in St Elizabeth, where DCP Blake is also from.

One source told the

Sunday Observer that so deep is Perry’s belief in the occult that he does not trust “even his own shadow”, and always makes sure that he is “properly oiled” before he goes about his business.

Haiti is known for occult practices, and St Thomas, too, where Perry originates, is regarded as one of the parishes in which obeah has figured in the diet of cultural folklore.

One resident of Albion, also in the western region of the parish, told the

Sunday Observer that it is even a growing view that Perry’s belief in the supernatural has been paying off for him, as every time the police close in on him he manages to escape, while others around him are either killed or captured.

“Dat deh man deh strong inna de obeah, man. A just because mi no believe inna dem something deh why mi think a just lucky him lucky, rather than a get protection from obeah. God is greater than obeah every time, and dah bad bway deh soon go dung inna the hole,” the elder said.

The police have since stepped up their operations to apprehend Perry, with massive searches in St Thomas, St Andrew, and Manchester in particular, without success.

However, some of Perry’s gang members, said to be more than 30, have either been captured or killed during clashes with national security personnel.

Jason Forbes was killed in an operation in East Rural St Andrew last month, while another gang member was captured while hiding in a church.

Kevon Eldemire, regarded as one of Perry’s closest allies, was also captured in Alligator Pond, Manchester, last month.

The police have appealed to Jamaicans to stop protecting and hiding Perry, who is originally from Phillipsfield in St Thomas. An initial offer of $1 million for information that would lead to his capture and arrest was raised to $1.5 million recently.

“He (Perry) is an extremely dangerous man who reminds me of Copper of the 1970s and 1980s,” suggested a now retired senior police officer.

‘Copper’ was the notorious badman Dennis Barth, who wreaked havoc with some of the most brazen crimes across Jamaica during the period, usually skilfully planned from his Rockfort, East Kingston base.

Barth, who led the infamous Hotsteppers Gang, was involved in numerous bank robberies across the island, and seemed to have had a particular liking for Scotiabank branches, among them the Three Miles, St Andrew branch, that was held up more than once, along with one that previously existed in Highgate, St Mary.

Barth, who would often kill policemen, and sometimes strip them of their uniforms which he would wear to commit other crimes, was closely aligned to the then left-wing Workers’ Party of Jamaica.

“Duppy Flim may not be as smart as Copper, but he is just as brazen,” the retired police officer said. “Maybe he is stupid enough to believe that because he is mixed up with Haitian voodoo and obeah he can just go out there and kill people and obeah will protect him. His luck will soon run out.”

The Police High Command remains confident that Perry will be captured soon, but there is increased speculation that he has fled to Haiti where, according to one Haitian journalist who spoke to the

Sunday Observer recently on condition of anonymity, Perry is wanted by the 21-year-old Haitian National Police for at least one murder committed in that country.

“He is involved in illegal activities here too, but it is very difficult to hold onto him because the security arrangements here are not as good as most other countries, and there is a lot of corruption in the police force,” the journalist said.

Haiti, which has suffered from several years of civil unrest, and has seen many acts of destabilisation, does not have an army, as it was disbanded in 1995, a move fuelled by the many coups that the country has experienced.