Kingston, 4-7 July 2022 – UNODC’s Firearms Trafficking Section organised a four-days training on investigation and prosecution of firearms trafficking and related offences in Jamaica, supporting the Government’s efforts to push for higher standards of investigation, prosecution for firearms-related crimes.
The training reached 19 practitioners from relevant institutions of the criminal justice system, including Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Justice, Jamaica Constabulary Force, Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, Financial Investigation Division, Firearm Licensing Authority, Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine, Jamaica Customs Agency, Jamaica Defence Force, and Interpol.
UNODC’s, international and local experts contributed to the training, providing practical skills to counter illicit firearms trafficking, including intelligence gathering, tracing procedures, special investigation techniques, joint investigation teams, international judicial cooperation, as well as the national and international legal framework on firearms. The training combined lectures with lively group discussions and practical exercises, which allowed participants to increase their knowledge on those topics, exchange their own experiences and cooperate in resolving fictional cases. One of the aims in this kind of training is precisely to encourage inter-institutional cooperation and information sharing in the fight against illicit firearms trafficking.
The training not only strengthened national capacities to investigate and prosecute firearms trafficking and related offences, but also contributed to build trust among national institutions and bring up innovative ideas on how to continue working towards reducing illicit arms flows and armed violence in the country. In Jamaica, drug trafficking and gang-related crimes continue to fuel the demand for illicit firearms, aggravating the impact of violent crimes. Despite continued seizures of firearms in the country, most murders continue to involve firearms, highlighting the impact of the illicit proliferation and circulation. In order to effectively address this phenomenon, it is essential to pursue adequate investigations around the seized firearms, trace to their illicit origin to identify the trafficking routes and criminal networks and prosecute the responsible individuals. In words of the UN Resident Coordinator Garry Conille, “Without adequate investigations and prosecution of seized firearms we cannot identify the criminal networks involved in the illicit flows and hence bring responsible individuals to justice and proactively reduce the number of weapons from our streets”.
This training is part of the joint project ‘Reducing Small Arms and Light Weapons Joint Programme’, also known as SALIENT Jamaica, which aims to dismantle the factors that make it possible for the illicit trafficking of firearms and ammunitions into the country as well as address the root causes of violence. This includes interventions in several interconnected areas, namely, legislation, public policy, capacity building, data collection, and violence reduction through policy reform and behaviour training in schools.
SALIENT Jamaica forms part of the commitment of both the Government and the United Nations to address the high levels of armed violence in a country with nearly 50 homicides per 100,000 people. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Courtney Williams emphasised in the opening the government’s commitment to enhance the capacity in areas such as firearms marking and tracing to enhance the capacity to successfully apprehend and prosecute offences involving illicit firearms that are trafficked into the island”.
