By: Staff Writer
September 17, 2024
The United Nations in a recent report said that the Caribbean experienced a sharp increase in homicidal violence since 2021, largely because of heightened inter-gang rivalries.
The report, “Caribbean Gangs: Drugs, firearms and gangs networks in Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago,” also said: “For the most part, smaller street gangs are more domestically oriented; some are politically connected and secure government contracts to provide resources and services that are historically underserved by the state.”
The report continued: “While the overall number and membership of Caribbean gangs appears to have expanded, a relatively small number of them are involved in transnational trafficking of drugs, firearms, and other contraband. Only a handful of the hundreds of gangs active in countries such as Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago appear to be directly implicated in cross-border crimes such as the trafficking of cocaine and cannabis or smuggling of weapons.
“The Caribbean region experienced a sharp increase in homicidal violence since 2021, largely because of heightened inter-gang rivalries. Some countries and jurisdictions currently register among the highest murder and violent crime rates in the world.
“From 2017 to 2022, firearms were used in more than two thirds (67 percent) of all homicides perpetrated across the region, far higher than the global average (40 percent).17 The combination of high cocaine availability, access to firearms and ammunition, gang fragmentation, entrenched corruption, and abundance of young males with limited opportunities act as critical determinants of the violent crime in the region.”
The report also revealed that “several national governments across CARICOM region have expressed concern that drug trafficking, gang fragmentation, and insecurity could get worse in the coming years, as some gang leaders lower their profile and go underground.”
Caribbean authorities have explored a range of efforts and informal negotiations to implement preventative measures; however, responses on their effectiveness are mixed. For example, “preventative approaches that deploy trusted intermediaries to disrupt or interrupt violence before it escalates are credited for some positive outcomes.”
Another area that has manifested and exhibited positive results was “Cure Violence,” a group that treats violence as a public health problem. They have demonstrated positive outcomes in both Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.”