Dear Editor,

As a former employee of the Jamaica Customs Agency I have observed with concern the growing belief that Customs is responsible for “missing” items and delayed or “held” baggage. These accusations are sometimes understandable, but are they fair?

When I left the agency, Customs was undergoing significant transformation, modernising systems, tightening procedures, and reducing loopholes that once allowed illicit activity. While there were gaps in the past, missing goods from barrels has rarely been a Customs-driven issue.

However, is Customs entirely blameless? Not entirely. The agency has a responsibility to ensure that public bonded warehouses, many of which are privately operated, maintain strict security standards, including surveillance and oversight of how goods are handled.

This is where a deeper issue lies.

Officers have faced intimidation when reporting or intercepting warehouse workers suspected of pilfering. Some warehouse environments are vulnerable to criminal behaviour, yet Customs officers are often the ones blamed, while warehouse owners, who profit from storing and handling these barrels, avoid meaningful scrutiny.

Public expectations remain high: Customs must protect imported goods, maintain border security, enable smooth clearance, stop contraband, prevent corruption, and still absorb every accusation of theft. But how can the agency meet these expectations if warehouse operators are not rigorously vetted, monitored, and held to uniform security requirements?

Today, public frustration lands almost automatically at Customs’ feet. Bags delayed overseas? Customs is blamed. Barrels broken into in off-site facilities? Customs is blamed. For too long silence has been the agency’s posture, and blame its burden.

Until there is a transparent, public conversation about the shared responsibility of warehouse operators, stronger enforcement powers, and non-negotiable security protocols, Customs will remain the nation’s scapegoat for a problem that does not begin at its door. And unless this changes, public trust in a critical institution that protects our borders, trade, and economy will continue to erode.

T Pettigrew