HAVANA (AP):
MORE OF the illegal narcotics being transported through the Caribbean is staying behind, leading to increased drug consumption on the region's islands, a leading area law enforcement officer said yesterday.
"Should the Caribbean worry? Yes," said Jamaican Police Commissioner Francis Forbes, head of the region's police commissioners association.
Local drug smugglers on the islands are now being paid in part with drugs rather than purely in cash, Forbes said, helping create new markets for narcotics. "At times, between 15 and 30 per cent of the payment is given in drugs," he said.
As drug use rises, so does violent crime, said Forbes, whose country was among 20 represented at the two-day regional conference that opened on Thursday. "There is an increase in violence such as shoot-outs and murders affecting Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana," he said.
Forbes said that rich, drug-consuming nations should help the smaller Caribbean nations fight narcotics trafficking with increased co-operation and funds.
"They should be cognisant that the security of their own borders begins in the countries of the Caribbean, with whom they have commercial trade," Forbes said.
During the event, Cuba repeated earlier concerns that the United States has failed to respond to its repeated requests for co-operation in regional drug interdiction efforts.
Cuba and the United States have had no diplomatic relations for more than four decades.
