Saint Lucia’s police chief has confirmed that law enforcement is preparing to seize assets from individuals suspected of acquiring property through illegal means.
“We have identified 10 targets this year,” Commissioner of Police Verne Garde said, signalling a stepped‑up effort to target the financial gains of criminal activity
“These people will be losing some of the property they achieved through nefarious activities. The targets are named already and we are getting the packages ready to manage them. So the wealth they enjoyed before 2026, they will not enjoy it.”
The commissioner indicated that this new push represents a strategic shift in how police intend to confront criminal networks, focusing not only on arrests but on dismantling the financial foundations that sustain unlawful operations.
According to Garde, authorities have been closely monitoring individuals suspected of illegal activity and are now ready to act. He explained that multiple state agencies have joined forces to carry out the initiative.
“We have been monitoring them. It is our intention at this point to go after their resources. So I have, through the intervention of the SIA, a serious investigations agency, and the FIA, Financial Intelligence Agency, and Customs, and about six other agencies… we’ve identified a few of them, and we intend to go after them with everything that we have,” he said.
The declaration builds on previous statements from the Commissioner, in which he pledged that the police force would “follow the money” in its efforts to curb criminality across the island.
