The executive director of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), Lt. Col. Michael Jones, says the devastating impact of illegal guns in the Caribbean cannot be overstated.
“These instruments of violence fuel gang warfare, drive up homicide rates and undermine the peace and stability essential for our sustainable development,” he told a five-day firearms training workshop that ends on Friday.
This week’s training workshop is a direct outcome of the collaborative spirit fostered by CARICOM IMPACS, the European Union’s (EU) Europe-Latin America Programme of Assistance against Transnational Organised Crime (El PACCTO 2.0), and France’s Technical Cooperation Support Programe for the Fight against Organized Crime in the Caribbean Region (ALCORCA).
Jones said that the training is a significant step in the collective efforts to combat the scourge of illegal firearms that threaten Latin American and Caribbean societies.
He said that CARICOM IMPACS, in response to this pervasive threat, established the CARICOM Crime Gun Intelligence Unit (CGIU), which was designed to be the nexus for intelligence-led operations, analysis and information sharing across member states.
Jones noted that the success of the CGIU hinges on the robust participation and adherence of CARICOM Member States. He urged them to observe the established protocols for intelligence gathering and investigation for the Region’s security architecture to function optimally.
EL PACCTO 2.0 deputy director, Michel Segura, said the training is the first tripartite collaboration among CARICOM IMPACS, EL PACCTO 2.0 and ALCORCA geared towards fighting against transnational organised crime in the region.
“This training represents more than a technical event. It is a common vision for a safer, more prepared, more connected regional space to fight against firearms trafficking,” Segura said.
“The response to this threat can only be collective, co-ordinated and operational, based on international co-operation where it involves information exchange between experts, promotion of good operational practices, building common response mechanisms and creation of trusted professional relationships,” he added.
EL PACCTO 2.0 focuses on combating transnational organised crime and dismantling criminal markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. The programme, through its operational component, addresses drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking and other criminal markets.
CARICOM IMPACS said that through international cooperation, it strengthens institutional capacities and promotes the exchange of information. Additionally, it fosters collaboration between security forces and judicial authorities to enhance effectiveness in tackling these threats.
ALCORCA’s international technical expert on organised crime and narco-trafficking, Mr. Fabrice Coussot, said that the workshop is the 50th such activity since the ALCORCA programme was established nine years ago.
“More than ever, we are convinced that training, sharing intelligence and expertise are the only way to tackle the threats we face. This is particularly true in the case of arms trafficking,” he said.
Permanent Secretary in T&T’s Ministry of Homeland Security, Videsh Maharaj, said studies have shown that regionally, the Caribbean suffers violent death rates nearly three times the global average, with over 50 per cent of homicides involving firearms.
He said that from 2009 to 2018, CARICOM’s intelligence reports show the seizure of over 22,000 illicit firearms and more than 300,000 rounds of ammunition across the sub-region. Maraj also noted that the United States government tracing records reveal that between 2018 and 2022, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) traced 7,399 firearms recovered in the Caribbean, with 73 per cent identified as originating in the US.
Last year, the ATF traced over 616,000 firearms globally, including those seized in Caribbean nations.
“Understanding these dynamics, Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to forming stronger alliances,” Maharaj said. “This includes collaboration through CARICOM IMPACS, joint regional frameworks like the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap (which now counts 16 participating countries), and technical assistance led by the United Nations’ UNLIREC, with backing from Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the EU. —(CMC)