As Princess Grand Jamaica Resort in Hanover prepares to open Jamaica’s first fully-fledged casino early next year, local law enforcement agencies are sharpening their skills at combating money laundering and counter-terrorism financing in collaboration with the entity tasked with regulating this industry that last year generated more than US$320 billion globally.

Senior executives of the Casino Gaming Commission (CGC) told this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange that the regulator has been engaged in training with the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), the Financial Investigations Division (FID), and the Jamaica Customs Agency.

“The partnership with MOCA and FID is a partnership of capacity-building and information-sharing, support, and investigations,” CGC Senior Director of Enforcement and Investigations Damion McKenzie told Observer reporters and editors.

“Casino gaming is unique here, so some of the typologies and some of the crimes that happen in casinos, they might not be familiar with them. Our initiatives are to ensure that they are aware of those types of instances that can happen in a casino,” McKenzie explained.

Casino Gaming Commission Chief Executive Officer Cleveland Allen emphasising at this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange that the commission is committed to properly regulating the casino gaming industry by ensuring a multi-pronged approach is taken towards monitoring the sector in order to better protect the financial ecosystem. (Photos: Joseph Wellington)

“We have conducted training with them for them to understand even the slot machines. We partnered with Gaming Laboratories International and MOCA, FID and the Jamaica Customs Agency are part of that training for them to understand the mechanisms behind slot machines and the vulnerabilities. The partnerships are geared towards investigative support as well,” McKenzie added.

Explaining the commission’s investigative role and duties, McKenzie said: “If we start an investigation and we can’t carry it forward anymore — because we don’t have the powers of prosecution and arrest — we will take it as far we can and then hand that file over to MOCA and FID.”

The commission’s Chief Executive Officer Cleveland Allen emphasised that the entity is committed to properly regulating the casino gaming industry by ensuring a multi-pronged approach is taken towards monitoring the sector in order to better protect the financial ecosystem.

“We operate in a space where we don’t have all the resources and all the knowledge, but remember, we operate in a large financial ecosystem. Our approach is focused on keeping us off the blacklist and on the right side of FATF (Financial Action Task Force),” Allen said.

Casino Gaming Commission Senior Director of Enforcement and Investigations Damion McKenzie explaining at this week’s Jamaica
Observer Monday Exchange that the commission’s partnership with MOCA and FID involves capacity-building and information-sharing, support, and investigations.

FATF is an intergovernmental organisation that develops policies to combat money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing. It promotes global standards to mitigate the risks, and assesses whether countries are taking effective action.

An analysis published by Market Research Future shows the global casino industry was projected to grow from US$329.6 billion in 2025 to US$617.67 billion by 2035, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 6.48 per cent during the forecast period.

Jamaica’s entry into that market comes after years of vigorous debate and planning that eventually climaxed with the CGC granting a licence to Princess Resort in July.

On Monday, Allen explained that Princess Resort was “the first applicant for an integrated resort development order”.

“They submitted their application for a licence to the Casino Gaming Commission in 2025 and after completing all due diligence exercises we issued the first licence in 2026,” Allen said.

He also explained that casinos are distinct from the gaming lounges already in operation across the island and which are regulated by the CGC’s sister agency the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission.