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  • 1 year ago
The President of Guyana says that in CARICOM, his country and Trinidad and Tobago are particularly challenged by what he called 'international narcotics cartels'.

Adding his voice, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago says exactly how far away from this region international organised criminal conduct originates.

Juhel Browne reports.
Transcript
00:00During the opening ceremony of CARICOM's 2nd Regional Symposium Violence as a Public Health
00:06Issue in Georgetown, Guyana on Friday, the President of Guyana, Dr. Irfan Ali, said the
00:11challenge is beyond the flow of illegal guns and ammunition into the region.
00:16We have also the movement of gangs with the complexities around us in Trinidad and Tobago
00:25and in Guyana, because you have your closely connected to large population like Venezuela.
00:32We have reallocated, both, sorry in Amto, we have had to reallocate scarce resources
00:42to fight international narcotics cartel that use our airspace.
00:50Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, who has lead responsibility for security in the quasi-cabinet
00:55of CARICOM, acknowledged how far away from the region that particular threat originates
01:00from.
01:01In recent times, we have been advised of organized criminal conduct penetrating our region from
01:10as far away as Asia and, of course, from South America.
01:15And many of us can report violent conduct, very disturbing presence in many of our schools
01:23among our young people.
01:25Prime Minister Rowley said a Caribbean gang database has been established at the CARICOM
01:30impacts.
01:31Our police management leadership need to cooperate and collaborate across our Caribbean territories,
01:41identifying known bad actors before they execute their plan against us, so that the
01:49police can have a more effective response against those who choose crime as a way of
01:55life and as a business for profit.
01:57And in an apparent reference to the US administration in office being led by outgoing President
02:02Joe Biden, Prime Minister Rowley spoke about progress in other areas, such as the tracing
02:08of illegal firearms and what he called a number of US-generated initiatives.
02:14Not the least of which the crime gun development approach with the United States authorities
02:21and the establishment of the illicit trafficking crime czar of North and the making of new
02:33legislation to allow federal agencies to treat with trans-state cross-border trafficking.
02:41These developments are helping us to slow the flow of arms to our territories and to
02:48identify the perpetrators and facilitators.
02:52CARICOM's first regional symposium on violence as a public health issue was hosted by the
02:58Dr. Rowley-led government of Trinidad and Tobago last year at the Hyatt Regency in Port
03:03of Spain.
03:04Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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