Report says C'bean a major transit region for illegal drugs

CMC

Friday, March 04, 2011

UNITED NATIONS (CMC) — An independent monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug control conventions says the Caribbean continues to be used as a transit area for the large-scale smuggling of illicit drugs.

In its annual report, issued here on Wednesday, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said this is the case because of the region's geographical location — at the crossroads of the main producing countries and the consumer markets.

"The region's long coastlines, porous borders and limited law enforcement and institutional capacity have facilitated trafficking activities, further compounding the impact of drug-related crime," the report said.

"Despite the considerable efforts made by governments in the region, the drug problem facing Central America and the Caribbean has been exacerbated by endemic corruption, widespread poverty and high unemployment."

"It is estimated that the street value of all drugs transiting through the Caribbean alone exceeds that of the legal economy," it added.

The report said that proceeds of drug trafficking have been used to "bribe public officials, increasing corruption within government, law enforcement agencies and the judiciary and further undermining already weak institutions".

In some instances, it said the resources amassed by drug trafficking syndicates through illicit activities have enabled them to challenge the government for effective control of parts of the national territory, jeopardising the state's security and political stability.

The board expressed grave concern about the negative effect that corruption has had on drug control efforts in the region, urging the governments to take "urgent measures to combat corruption in all its manifestations".

It said Jamaica, for instance, has also been affected by significant drug-related violence, noting that in the summer of 2010, a police operation aimed at arresting alleged drug trafficker Christopher 'Dudus' Coke led to a stand-off between heavily armed gang members and police.

The report said the gravity of the ensuing violence, which caused over 70 deaths, prompted the Government of Jamaica to declare a state

of emergency in capital Kingston and mobilise the a large contingent of armed forces. The suspect was eventually arrested by police and extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.

The board noted that natural disasters have also posed new challenges to the drug-prevention efforts in the region, citing Haiti, where a magnitude-7.0 earthquake in January last year killed upwards of 200,000 people and caused widespread devastation to the country's fledgling infrastructure.

Before the quake, it said Haiti was "already known to be used as a major transit area for illicit drug shipments bound for North America owing to its long and poorly patrolled coastline, as well as the presence of several clandestine airstrips on its territory".

"The magnitude of the destruction that occurred and the resulting loss of capacity of the Haitian State have given rise to fears that the country may be increasingly used as a trans-shipment area for illicit drugs," the report said.

It said the adoption of strengthened drug law enforcement measures in many countries has had a "displacement effect" on trafficking routes, with drug traffickers seeking out the path of least resistance.

This "displacement effect", as manifested by the adoption of new trafficking routes, has led to a rise in demand for illicit drugs throughout the region and an increase in drug-related crime owing, in particular, to the growing prevalence of "payments in kind"; that is, the commission of crime in exchange for drugs or the exchange of drugs for different drugs.

The INCB report said illicit drug shipments from South America are also reportedly passing through the Caribbean to West Africa on their way to Europe, stating that the primary means of drug trafficking remain maritime vessels, including go-fast boats, land transport and light aircraft landing on clandestine landing strips.

The report said that Jamaica remains the "largest illicit producer and exporter" of cannabis in Central America and the Caribbean, accounting for about one third of cannabis produced in the Caribbean.

It also said an increased production of the drug has been noted in other countries, "in particular St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica".

The report said, too, Jamaica has also become "a hub for the trafficking of cocaine, as trafficking routes have been displaced as a result of the strengthening of drug trafficking countermeasures in Latin America.

"Compounding the problem is the fact that Jamaican criminal groups are exploiting the elaborate networks originally established for trafficking cannabis to facilitate their attempts to traffic cocaine," it said.

"The Government of the Bahamas has reported that cannabis herb smuggled out of Jamaica and Haiti using go-fast boats and light aircraft continues to pose challenges to the country's drug control efforts," it added.

"Further compounding the problem is the fact that drug trafficking groups in the Bahamas have formed strategic alliances with established drug syndicates in producer and consumer countries," it continued.

Do you feel buying into Facebook now is a good investment for the long-run?
	Yes
	No

View Results
Results published weekly in Sunday Finance

Username:
Password:

Teen killed for laughing at man who fell from bicycle

Report says C'bean a major transit region for illegal drugs