NEW MEASURES will be introduced to catch financial criminals, says Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security .
Jamaica's financial institutions are being used to transfer funds for the illegal drug trade and these transactions need to be disrupted, he said at the opening of the Jamaica National Building Society's Portmore Pines Plaza branch on Wednesday.
"Billions of dollars are being laundered through Jamaican financial institutions and being sent to locations to satisfy the demands of narco-traffickers," Dr. Phillips said. "Part of the way in which we have to attack this cancer is by tackling and disrupting the financial networks that they have been able to construct."
The illegal drug trade is the key factor underpinning Jamaica's high level of crime, he said. It supports the organised criminal gangs with massive amounts of money and is the basis for the import of illegal firearms and ammunition.
"One of the things we will be doing is to strengthen our ability to monitor and to prosecute those responsible for financial crimes," he told the function.
"It is important that every teller, every manager, every member of staff be aware and alert to the prospects of misusing your very good services in ways that threaten the stability and viability of our country. "
The obligation to fight crime is going to require the complete participation of all Jamaicans, including the financial institutions, Dr. Phillips said.
