KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica Constabulary Force on Monday said that mere days after the Commissioner of Police, Dr Carl Williams, announced deeper ties between the JCF and Haitian police under the ‘Get the Guns’ campaign, the Haitian authorities are reporting that the partnership has led to the seizure of the largest cache of weapons and drugs so far in 2015.

According to information provided by the JCF’s National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), last Thursday 15 members of the narcotics arm of the Haitian Police Force were deployed to Ile A Veach, a town in southern Haiti, where 13 firearms, an assortment of ammunition and 2,500 pounds of ganja were seized.

Ile A Veach is considered the central point from which the illicit guns-for-drugs trade operates between Jamaica and Haiti, a release from the JCF’s Corporate Communications Unit said.

The Haitian police have since thanked NIB for providing critical intelligence that led to the successful seizure of the firearms, ammunition and marijuana. 

Dr Carl Williams welcomed the news of the seizure.

“We have been diligent in building our intelligence-sharing capabilities with the Haitian authorities. Our new efforts under the ‘Get the Guns’ initiative will seek to keep these traffickers on the back foot and effectively stop the movement of illegal weapons through our borders,” Dr Williams said.

He also noted: “The imminent deployment of the Jamaican police officers to Haiti will deepen our cooperation with law enforcement authorities in the French-speaking territory to ultimately smash the guns-for-drugs trade and eliminate its impact on the security of our borders.”