A recent joint US-Caricom exercise, Operation Hammerhead, intercepted 600,000 packages destined for the region and seized 318 firearms, 348 magazines and 19,270 rounds of ammunition.
Prime Minister Keith Rowley noted this in a report for the last quarter of 2023 presented at the Caricom Heads of Government Meeting by T&T which heads the security sub-committee. That period was when the US and Canada worked with the region on the crime upsurge.
Rowley said the region can’t fight the situation without co-operation, especially from the US which is the source of guns and ammunition which finds its way into the region for onward transfer to other places.
He said Operation Hammerhead was conducted for three weeks from September 11 and was largely driven by Homeland Security and Caricom IMPACS sharing information.
After the exercise ended, activities continue remotely and based on the continued activities as of January 20, Rowley noted the following:
• ↓The activity assessed 600,000 packages destined for Caricom and they were given increased scrutiny.
• ↓Of that 4,600 were deemed to require evidence inspection.
• ↓There was seizure of 318 firearms, 348 magazines and 19,270 rounds of ammunition.
• ↓As a result, 25 international firearms trafficking cases were launched and indictments and arrests are anticipated for several people in the US.
Rowley said the Bahamas, St Kitts, Jamaica and T&T reported that they are already at record levels of murders compared to the recent past.
The report noted that the threat posed by illicit trade of arms remains very high and Caricom had mandated that proposed laws for a ban on assault style weapons as well as the Caricom Arrest Treaty and Caricom Arrest Warrant be done in March by regional attorneys general who will be put on notice that they’re required to put their countries in a position for parliaments to act. This also applies to laws on the Single Market and Economy.
