ONE of two men arrested Wednesday in Caribbean Estates, an upscale community in Portmore, St Catherine, for his alleged connection to a major credit and debit card fraud ring, is now the subject of an international investigation, according to the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID).

Head of OCID, Fitz Bailey, said the man, whose name has been withheld, pending further investigations, was held during an operation that lasted for more than 12 hours in Caribbean Estates.

"About 1:30 am police from OCID conducted an operation at 32 D St Vincent Boulevard, Caribbean Estates, St Catherine, in search of an individual who we consider to be a mastermind in a debit and credit card fraud ring," Bailey said, adding that credit and debit card fraud amounts to millions of dollars each year.

The Constabulary Communication Network reported last night that another man who was at the premises during the raid, which saw the seizure of several items believed to be used in the manufacturing of fraudulent credit and debit cards, was also arrested.

Both men were charged with breaches of the Customs Act, Cybercrime Act, Forgery Act, in addition to larceny and money laundering.

Police said several forged local and international credit and debit cards, templates for Jamaican driver's licences, as well as documents relating to customs were among items seized during the raid.

"One piece of equipment — a square card reader — which we believe is the latest data-capturing device that banks overseas are using, but which is yet to be introduced into the island, was also seized in the raid," said one policeman who was part of the operation.

"We believe that there may be a link overseas as we suspect that several of the cards were mailed to the individual here and so we have actually started to engage international partners to gather more information," said Bailey.

Yesterday, the police appealed to Jamaicans to be extremely vigilant when using their credit and debit cards.