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Contact:
John Emmanuel
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Cross-section of regional
participants at 11th Annual Conference. |
Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - Law enforcement officials from the frontlines
involved in the fight against illegal drugs and firearms have begun deliberating
on ways in which to stay ahead of the criminal elements in the region.
The officials are meeting here for the 11th Annual Regional Drug Commanders
Conference. The four-day event is receiving technical support from the US
Embassy and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Addressing Tuesday’s opening ceremony, Minister for Home Affairs and Internal
Security Senator, Honourable Calixte George spoke of the expanding networks
being created and utilized by drug lords and criminal kingpins. He sighted the
proliferation of illegal guns and their effects on society, seen in the mounting
incidents of gun related crimes, all against the backdrop that the Caribbean did
not in itself manufacture firearms.
Continued tough measures Senator George said would be needed, if the region
were to remain not one but several steps ahead of the criminal elements. He
commended the efforts of the United States in helping to equip the various law
enforcement agencies in that regard.
“Outstanding examples of the utility value of those assets that are being
provided are for example in our case, the use of the H90 Zodiac Rigid Hull
Inflatable boats in counter-narcotics high speed pursuits. Then there is the
utilization of the C26 aircraft surveillance and support to the RSS and their
work in conjunction with the various Coast Guard units in the interception of
drugs. These are clear examples of the utility value of the assets that are
provided,” said Senator George.
For the region there has indeed been some measure of success in fighting the
drug and illegal firearms menace, with several Caribbean states reporting
critical seizures and arrests.
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US Ambassador to Barbados and
Eastern Caribbean Mary Kramer |
According to US Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Her
Excellency Mary Kramer, these successes have not gone unnoticed by the criminal
elements as well as by the international community.
“We want to help you make the islands dangerous and uninviting for the people
who traffic in these drugs, remarked Ambassador Kramer. She went on, “what’s
happening here is that you are getting results, really important results and
those results are noticed may I say world wide. People are paying attention to
the successes you have here and we thank you for them.”
The conference will allow top law enforcement officials to compare note and
share ideas on new and innovative techniques of mitigating and ultimately
stemming the tide of the illicit drugs and firearms trade facing the Caribbean.
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