The Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) has announced that officers’ training has commenced for the Maritime Investigations and Intelligence Unit, an extension of the existing Marine Unit.
The RSLPF established the new Maritime Investigations unit on December 17 last year.
An announcement on the RSLPF Facebook page explained that the unit would enable the police to catalogue all ‘negative maritime assets’ confronting Saint Lucia’s borders.
“The RSLPF is currently training the team of officers expected to staff the unit through partnerships established with regional an international agencies,” the announcement stated.
It said the initiatives would facilitate extensive investigations beyond Saint Lucia, thereby ‘incapacitating criminal networks’ that have exploited local border security breaches.
The RSLPF disclosed that the new Maritime Investigations and Intelligence Unit is part of its multi-faceted approach to crime-fighting and improved citizen security.
According to the 2023 Global Organized Crime Index, porous borders and a lack of intelligence contribute to arms trafficking in Saint Lucia.
The publication noted that Saint Lucia’s proximity to Martinique established strong illicit trade routes.
“These routes are well documented as part of the cocaine trade and suspected as facilitating arms trafficking as well,” it stated.
The RSLPF said Acting Police Commissioner Verne Garde advanced the new Maritime Investigations and Intelligence Unit initiative.
Garde began a six-month contract in September last year, declaring at his first news conference: “I will not allow Saint Lucia to be overrun by persons who are in conflict with the law.”