Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
Home Affairs Minister hosts CARICOM meeting with US reps over firearms trafficking
Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn.
Kaieteur News – The Minister of Home Affairs, and current Chair of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) of CARICOM, Robeson Benn, recently hosted a meeting between CARICOM Member States and representatives of the government of the United States on firearms trafficking.
The meeting held via virtual conferencing on Wednesday was attended by Ministers and senior representatives with responsibility for National Security from CARICOM Member States, representatives of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as well as Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Executive Director of the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), Lieutenant Colonel Michael Jones.
According to a release from the Home Affairs Ministry, during the meeting issues related to firearms trafficking in the CARICOM Region were reviewed and approaches to urgently deal with the central issue and its related manifestations were recommended.
The key areas identified as part of the strategy included implementing of a regional roadmap for addressing Caribbean priority actions on the illicit proliferation of firearms and ammunition across the Caribbean by 2030; collaboration with regional stakeholders such as CARICOM IMPACS to facilitate training and capacity building for Member States; collaboration with international stakeholders such as the ATF and HSI who deal with transnational organized crime; and optimizing the use of the Regional Integrated Ballistic Information Network (RIBIN) and E-Trace.
The operationalization of the CARICOM Gun Crime Intelligence Center (CGIC)) was also given high priority during the discussion
“The opportunities for training, intelligence gathering and sharing with the ATF and HSI were discussed along with the deployment of intelligence officials within the CARICOM Region,” the release added.
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