At the CARICOM Heads of Government’s closing press briefing last evening, Prime Minister of Grenada, Dickon Mitchell emphasized the urgent need for enhanced regional cooperation to address crime and bolster security measures across the Caribbean.
To achieve this, Mitchell highlighted the critical importance of implementing a Caribbean arrest warrant, which would enable law enforcement agencies to apprehend and extradite criminals who attempt to evade justice by crossing borders within the community. He stressed the necessity of ensuring that criminals cannot escape accountability by seeking refuge in neighbouring islands.
“As it stands, if someone is wanted in Trinidad and Tobago and find themselves in Grenada or Barbados, it is extremely difficult for law enforcement to apprehend and return them, on the simple basis that they would not have been wanted in Grenada or Barbados for the crime,” the Prime Minister noted.
Mitchell also underscored the need for comprehensive regional strategies to combat various criminal activities, including emerging trends, gang violence, and money laundering. He emphasized the importance of pooling resources and intelligence to effectively confront these threats and protect Caribbean communities.
“In addition to the Caribbean arrest warrant, there are various examples of other things that we need to do regionally,” Mitchell emphasized. “From beefing up our resources, both law enforcement and regional law enforcement and intelligence and security agencies, to make sure that we can get intelligence on emerging criminal trends, gang activity, money laundering, all of these activities that we have to pursue and pursue collectively as a region.”
Mitchell also addressed concerns about the region’s approach to sentencing and bail, advocating for constructive dialogue between executive and judiciary branches to address repeat offenders and ensuring public safety. He also stressed the importance of upholding the rule of law while effectively combating crime and violence.
“We cannot tolerate a situation where criminals have more rights than citizens and innocent victims,” he asserted.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the alarming presence of professional killers and hired gunmen operating throughout the Caribbean, posing a significant threat to citizens’ safety. He cited recent high-profile incidents in Grenada as examples of the cross-border nature of organized crime in the region.
“Increasingly, there are organized criminal activities that operate as a business in some of our islands,” Mitchell stated.
Some of the islands he shared, have begun to ratify documentation that is required to make sure that Caribbean arrest warrant this becomes a reality.
He said that CARICOM intends to press forward urgently on this matter to make sure that it quickly is ratified by all member states.
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell then reaffirmed the commitment of CARICOM leaders to work collaboratively to strengthen regional security measures and combat transnational crime effectively.
