Training at St. Catherine Centre Contributes to Anti-Drug Trafficking Successes

Recent successes achieved by regional anti-drug trafficking agencies are an indication of the high level training being provided at the Caribbean Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training Centre, located at Twickenham Park in St. Catherine.
Speaking with JIS News, Director Principal of the centre, Bertram Millwood, said that the feedback from officers in the field who have undergone training at the centre, is that they have been able to put the training into practice, which is responsible for much of the successes they have achieved.
Since 1996, some 5,500 personnel from across the region have been trained at the centre.
Mr. Millwood pointed out that the challenge faced by law enforcers was an uphill one, as island states face the problem of inbound trafficking. “Citizens have to realise that they too have a role to play in the fight against the trade in illegal contraband. If you look at St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Montego Bay, all the way to Portland, there are always bays that if you want to sneak a small boat in, you can. The JDF Coast Guard has received some new boats recently and with increased surveillance, they are expected to have an impact,” he said.
“Detection has increased and there have also been some great successes with firearms coming into the country,” he added.
Mr. Millwood explained that much of the training at present was concentrated on the forfeiture of assets. “Hitherto, personnel would search for cocaine or marijuana and just look for the bag or the big things. Now they are looking for the bank books, receipts, papers, passports and things they would not have been focussing on before,” he said.
“Once they come in with these papers, the people from the Financial Investigation Division will take them, sift through them and get information from the banks.
So, we’re really going after the money and the property, because we feel that is where it’s going to hurt them most,” Mr. Millwood noted.