Guns smuggled from the US are blamed for increase in murders on Caribbean islands

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Dozens of soldiers and police scattered through a neighborhood last night. Turks and Caicos Islands It comes just days after the archipelago reported a record 40 murders this year.

As authorities sought to control the flow of firearms smuggled from the United States, they were on the hunt for criminals and illegal weapons fueling violence in the Caribbean.

Half an hour into the operation on October 30, a driver tried to throw authorities off the road by throwing a gun into the bushes.

“Rest assured, we remain committed to stemming the flow of illegal weapons,” Police Superintendent Jason James said hours later.

But the flow is very strong; Illegal firearms are blamed for a record number or increase in murders in a country. The number of Caribbean islands is increasing including this year Trinidad and Tobago And Bahamas.

No Caribbean country manufactures or imports firearms or ammunition on a large scale, yet they account for half of the world’s 10 highest national homicide rates, according to a statement from U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

New York’s attorney general and 13 other colleagues across the United States demanded new measures to stem the flow of weapons in a letter sent to U.S. lawmakers in late September, noting that 90% of weapons used in the Caribbean are purchased and smuggled into the United States. area.

“American-made weapons are flowing into Caribbean countries and communities, fueling violence, chaos, and senseless tragedies throughout the region,” New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote.

In mid-2023, the US government appointed its first coordinator for Caribbean firearms investigations to help prevent arms smuggling from the US to the region; The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is currently tracking firearms seized in the Caribbean.

According to the agency’s latest data, in addition to the 266 firearms seized in the Bahamas last year, 234 firearms from Jamaica, 162 from the Dominican Republic and 143 from Trinidad and Tobago were handed over to the ATF.

The majority are pistols, followed by semi-automatic pistols.

Information obtained from seized weapons could help authorities in the United States determine where and when those weapons were purchased, which could trigger a domestic firearms trafficking investigation.

But to stop the flow of weapons, it is a challenge for smugglers to disassemble the weapons and hide the parts in containers at sea.

“No matter how much you try to harden the infrastructure at official ports, it’s actually like clogging a filter,” said Michael Jones, director general of Caribbean trade bloc Caricom’s Crime and Security Enforcement Agency.

Murders aren’t the only thing on the rise in some parts of the Caribbean. Jones said there had been a rise in firearms custom-made using 3D printers, and gunmen were using higher-caliber weapons and becoming more brazen, with younger people committing crimes.

Homicides now occur during daylight hours and not necessarily through drive-by shootings, he said.

“There are those who are brave enough to walk up to a person, put a gun to his head and walk away,” he said.

Jones said gangs operate franchises across the region, with gunmen sometimes traveling to a specific island to commit the crime and then leaving.

Jones said gangs also prey on young people because of a lack of opportunity.

“Even now there are some countries that will tell you they don’t have gang problems,” he said.

One afternoon in late October, a 42-year-old employee of the Trinidad and Tobago Forestry Division was fatally shot while in a car near his brother’s home.

He was one of six people killed in 48 hours, taking the death toll to 518 in the twin island nation of 1.4 million, compared with 468 murders last year. Sister island Tobago alone reported a record 20 murders in mid-August, and that number is still counting.

During a recent budget presentation, Prime Minister Keith Rowley called on MPs to introduce a bill that would ban assault weapons and high-powered rifles.

Most murders in the Caribbean are the result of inter-gang violence, but civilians are increasingly caught in the crossfire, experts say.

“The proliferation of custom-made rifles and semi-automatic pistols, combined with the circulation of conversion devices, increases the likelihood that more rounds will be fired during criminal shootings, which can increase the risk of multiple injuries, including to bystanders.” Caricom’s Impacs, Small Arms Survey and others He warned about the June report prepared by.