Andrew Holness | A global war on gangs is imperative

Armed violence, driven by organised crime, has long been a crisis in Jamaica, but has been spreading across the wider Caribbean in recent years. For decades, we have suffered one of the highest murder rates in the world, with over 80 per cent of homicides committed using firearms smuggled into the country.

According to the CARICOM Implementing Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), armed violence in our Caribbean neighbours is rapidly approaching that level. The common denominator is clear: organised gangs, their transnational networks, and the weapons they illegally bring traffic. These threats transcend national borders. Similarly, or response must be transnational.

It is time to launch a global war on gangs – a coordinated, international effort to dismantle the vast criminal networks fuelling instability across regions. From the cartels of Mexico to the gangs of Haiti, from the Ecuadorian drug syndicates to the extortionists here in Spanish Town, armed groups are increasingly resembling paramilitary organisations, threatening not just citizen security but state sovereignty.

Jamaica does not manufacture firearms, yet they continue to flood our communities. Criminal networks exploit weak points in shipping channels, customs systems, and porous maritime borders, to import the tools of their violent trade, and turn our most vulnerable communities into battlegrounds. These criminal enterprises are not isolated – they form part of a transnational network that spans the Caribbean, Latin America, and North America.

Trace data on weapons retrieved by the security forces between 2013 and 2023 reveal that 70 per cent of the firearms came into Jamaica either directly from the U.S. or indirectly through neighbouring counties such as Haiti. The evidence shows that those sending guns from ports such as Miami are mainly members of the Caribbean diaspora with links to gangs in the region. It is these international connections that enable gangs to continually replenish their weapon stockpiles almost as rapidly as police can recover the guns from the streets.

HAITI: A WARNING TO THE REGION

The crisis in Haiti is a stark example of what happens when gangs gain unchecked power. For the last four years, heavily armed criminal factions have been controlling swathes of the country, paralysing state institutions and turning the capital, Port-au-Prince, into a war zone. These groups do not operate in isolation; they are supplied with arms and resources by criminal actors embedded in the Haitian diaspora and neighbouring Dominican Republic.

Haiti is not an anomaly – it is a harbinger. If left unaddressed, the same fate could befall other nations in the region. Ecuador, once one of Latin America’s most peaceful nations, has seen an explosion in cartel-related violence, with its homicide rate surging past 40 per 100,000, prompting their government to declare a state of “internal armed conflict.” Yet, in Jamaica, that level of violence has been our reality for three decades, with some members of our society, including the Opposition, refusing to acknowledge the emergency.

NEED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

It has been said that Latin America and the Caribbean is the most violent region in the world that is not also at war; with respect, this is a fallacy. Countries in this region may not be at war with each other, but we are at war with this extended transnational threat network. The greatest advantage that organised crime has in this war is its ability to function across borders while governments remain constrained by national jurisdictions. As states, we have often attempted to fight transnational criminal groups in isolation, while they have perfected the art of international cooperation in intelligence sharing and logistical coordination.

There is reason for optimism, however. As a region we are now waking up to the reality that the threat posed by armed groups is not one of ordinary criminality. Most recently, the new administration in Washington, DC officially designated Mexican cartels as terrorists, acknowledging their threat to national security. Both countries have since agreed to devote more resources to thwart the trafficking in narcotics, persons, and firearms across their shared border. More governments worldwide should recognise especially violent criminal groups as terrorist entities and apply the same counter-terrorism tools used against other extremist threats.

As the Caribbean has also been a transit point for illicit trafficking to the US, for which the counterflow is often firearms, we will be looking to the US to give due attention to what they often call their “third border” – the Caribbean.

For now, the new administration’s focus is the mass deportation of criminal offenders living in the US illegally, which includes a number of Jamaicans. We take no issue with that. It does present an additional challenge for our security forces, but, once established that they are our citizens, then they belong here, and we are prepared, especially as our security agencies maintain an intelligence sharing relationship with US agencies. Moreover, if any number of these individuals returning are likely to have been involved in smuggling firearms into Jamaica from the US or directing gang operations remotely – where it is difficult for us to interdict them – then certainly the opportunity to control their actions is now within our grasp.

International efforts to combat organised crime, however, are sustained through both cooperation and reciprocity between partner countries. We therefore expect that the US will continue initiatives aimed at stemming the flow of arms to the Caribbean, such as passing the Caribbean Arms Trafficking Causes Harm (CATCH) Act, introduced in March 2024, which will require the US government to track and disrupt weapons trafficking to the region.

JAMAICA’S SECURITY REFORMS: A MODEL FOR THE REGION

For its part, Jamaica has taken decisive steps to confront these challenges. Since 2016, we have tripled the capital budget for our security forces, investing in forensic technology, cybercrime capabilities, and intelligence analysis; we stood up the maritime, air, and cyber command within the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), enhancing the ability to secure our borders and counter transnational threats; and we implemented zones of special operation to reclaim territories dominated by gangs.

These measures are yielding results. Jamaica’s murder rate declined by 19 per cent in 2024, following an 8 per cent drop in 2023. Comparing January 2022 to January 2025, we have achieved a 51 per cent reduction in homicides. In January 2025, we recorded the lowest monthly murder count in over a decade. All major crimes—murder, shootings, rape, robberies – are at their lowest since 2001. These figures prove that targeted, intelligence-driven strategies focussed on dismantling gangs are instrumental in reducing overall violence.

TIME FOR GLOBAL ACTION

Organised crime, however, evolves and adapts when pressured. Complete victory requires severing their international connections through which they obtain resources, and threaten other jurisdictions.

This requires regional cooperation that entails concrete commitments: greater investment in border security, maritime patrols, forensic gun tracing, and coordinated intelligence operations. The world united to combat global terrorism – now it must unite to wage war against the criminal organisations that are just as deadly but far more prevalent in the Americas.

This is not just Jamaica’s fight. It is a fight for the stability of the hemisphere. It is a fight for sovereignty, economic growth, and the security of future generations.

We have no choice but to win. And we will.

Dr Andrew Holness is prime minister of Jamaica and member of parliament for West Central St Andrew. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.