Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
April 07, 2008 (CUOPM)
A number of agreements will be signed to fight human trafficking, drug trafficking and other crimes in the Caribbean region.
Caribbean leaders at the 13th Special Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last weekend agreed to sign the Maritime and Airspace Security Cooperation Agreement by July this year, engage international partners, particularly the United States of America, with respect to the implications for the Region of their anti-narcotics efforts in Central America and the Pacific Coast and immediately draft model national legislation for enactment by Member States.
With regard to intelligence and information sharing, it was agreed to conduct of a region-wide information campaign against crime to be facilitated by CARICOM Secretariat; the retooling, retraining, and realignment of national and regional Intelligence Units to assist law enforcement agencies in the fight against Crime and utilise current facilities such as the Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre (RIFC), the Joint Regional Communications Centre (JRCC) and the CARICOM Watch List.
On the matter dealing with the procurement of equipment, Caribbean leaders agreed to formulate a strategy for information sharing in the procurement of assets among military and law enforcement entities in Member States; assign a Working Group to create an index/inventory of existing resources in the Region; identify the gaps therein and recommend equipment to fill the gaps identified.