2009-05-28 01:30:02 -

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - U.S. and Jamaican authorities have formally announced a new joint task force to break up lottery scams based on the Caribbean island.
Police say more than 400 murders in Jamaica have been linked to the schemes that robbed Americans of more than $30 million last year. The scam artists ask victims to send money to claim winnings from a nonexistent lottery.
Assistant police commissioner Leslie Green told a news conference Wednesday that one goal of the task force is to seize assets of the crime rings that are based in the northwestern parish of St. James.

The task force includes agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency as well as Jamaican personnel, including roughly 15 police investigators.