P-J photo by Dennis Phillips Jamestown police are pictured Monday afternoon at 15 Winsor St. after executing a search warrant. Several loaded weapons were reportedly found inside an upper apartment.

JAMESTOWN – An effort by the Jamestown Police Department to target those who use “violence and intimidation against others” is apparently paying dividends when it comes to seizing illegal weapons.

In the last 10 days, the department said it has collected eight handguns, a shotgun and a rifle. It’s part of a “dramatic sudden increase” in weapons being used in violent crimes, said Capt. Robert Samuelson of the Jamestown Police Department.

“This is not just an issue here but is also being experienced across the state,” he added. “We as an agency will continue to aggressively pursue and proactively police our city with our law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of our citizens and officers. We will also work with our district attorney’s office to aggressively pursue convictions and jail time to keep dangerous individuals off the streets.”

Several loaded weapons were found Monday during the execution of a search warrant around 3:30 p.m. at a 15 Winsor St. apartment, JPD said in a news release. Police recovered the following: a quantity of fentanyl, packaging materials, scales, money, brass knuckles, ammunition, a loaded shotgun, a loaded .22 caliber rifle, a loaded .380 pistol, and a loaded .22 caliber handgun.

Residents of the apartment, 26-year-old James D. Eastham and 23-year-old Amber L. Eaton, were held for arraignment on charges of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, two counts each of second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of criminally using drug paraphernalia.

According to Jamestown police, the shotgun recovered during Monday afternoon’s search was believed to be the same Eastham used earlier in the week to menace an individual outside his apartment. Eastham was further booked on a warrant for his arrest on a second-degree menacing charge.

Around 9 p.m. Monday, officers stopped a vehicle in the area of Thayer and Falconer streets and, during a search, found a “drum style magazine” for a pistol in the pocket of 33-year-old Steven Mojica-Medina.

A search of the vehicle revealed another pistol, six high-capacity magazines, cocaine packaged for sale and more than $1,000 in cash.

“The high capacity magazines that were found were all filled with different amounts of ammunition, but had the ability to hold 50 rounds in the drum magazine, 30 rounds and 15 rounds in others,” JPD said in a news release.

Mojica-Medina is facing charges of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and six counts of criminal possession of a large-capacity feeding device. He was also held for arraignment in city court.