ILLEGAL narcotics in the Caribbean and Latin America have a nuclear effect on all parties involved, since it has been a platform for money laundering, trafficking in persons, robberies, murders, gun-running and prostitution.

This is according to Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, on Wednesday in his feature address at the regional seminar for National Drug Observatories in the Caribbean being hosted at the Ramada Hotel, Providence, East Bank Demerara.
The two-day event saw the participation of 13 countries.

Ramjattan said the results of drug-related crimes and murders have dire effects on a country, especially its economy.
“When our economies are short-changed of foreign currency, that has damaging effects on our education, health and everything else, causing a nuclear effect,” he said in respect to legitimate agencies, organisations and businesses being driven away because of the drug trade.

Making a comparison, Ramjattan said based on a 2017 study, every 15 minutes an adolescent in Latin America is murdered, amounting to 400 killings a day.
“A lot of those killings are as a result of drugs and the profit that it makes and domestic consequences,” he said.

Ramjattan said the study revealed that even the world’s largest war zones can hardly compete with the murder rates in Latin America.

“Between 2001-2014, roughly 26,000 civilians died as a result of the war in Afghanistan. Over the same period, 67,000 Hondurans were murdered and a lot had to do with drugs,” the security minister noted.

He said the Caribbean can cut back on these crimes through data-driven and evidence-based strategies focusing on areas where violent crimes are prevalent.
He said a study done in Guyana based on the illicit drugs in schools has left the authorities in shock.

“This has a lot to do with many factors including the parents. Let’s not cuss down the Police Force or CANU; it will require a collective effort on behalf of parents and teachers to straighten things out,” he said.

Underscoring that an essential question is whether the stakeholders such as the citizens and governments are getting the needed results of all the monies being pumped into security, Ramjattan said money is being poured into all law enforcement agencies, but inefficiencies and beneficial alternatives need to be addressed.

US Deputy Chief of Mission, Terry Steers-Gonzalez said with better data collection, analysis and reporting, countries can properly focus their efforts on policies, legislations, programmes and budgets to combat drug trafficking.

“If we are to make headway in this endeavor, we must put drug observatories in as many places as possible. In addition, we must ensure that personnel have the proper training and equipment to perform their duties,” Steers-Gonzalez said.
He said that the U.S. Government has and will continue to support drug observatories around the world.

The seminar is part of the response under the Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) component of the 10th European Development Fund Crime and security programme between the Europe Union and CARIFORUM.