Debate stirred as Customs wants search powers without warrant

A request by senior officials from the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) for the border-protection body to be given increased powers to enter and search premises without a warrant in pursuit of recovering illegal weapons was met with resistance by members of a parliamentary committee examining the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022.

At present, customs officers’ powers are restricted as they are required to apply to a judge or justice of the peace for a special warrant before entering any premises to search for uncustomed goods.

At a meeting of a joint select committee reviewing the new firearms bill last week, the senior legal officer of the JCA, Krystal Corbet, said that the amendment would further enhance the capacity of Customs and the Government as they combat the importation of illegal weapons.

Making the case for additional powers to seize weapons that are trafficked through the ports, Alwyn Nicely, deputy commissioner of border protection at the JCA, said that the agency generally collaborated with the police to confiscate contraband.

However, he told the committee that there were instances in which the JCA was on an operation and had received additional information that might be time-sensitive in terms of its efforts to make a seizure.

“In many instances, our operations with the JCF are planned, so there are going to be circumstances when we don’t have the luxury of time to sit down and plan an operation to follow up what we initially set out for.”

He said that under those circumstances, the JCA would want to independently pursue that kind of contraband, which might include illegal firearms.

Dwight Sibblies, MP for Clarendon Northern, described the powers being sought by JCA officials as “awesome”.

“How often does this happen that it would warrant that amendment to the bill to give the customs officer that authority?” Sibblies questioned.

FEAR OF ABUSE OF POWER

Kingston Central MP Donovan Williams and St Catherine South representative Fitz Jackson had concerns that the JCA could abuse those increased powers.

But Nicely insisted that “there are occasions in which we at the JCA are in receipt of particular information and it happens on the fly, so you are conducting an operation and you come into information that requires an immediate response”.

Committee member Senator Sherine Golding Campbell wanted the JCA to furnish data to show how often it had had to call on the police to assist it in operations where it moved to seize contraband.

Committee Chairman Dr Horace Chang supported the senator’s request for empirical evidence on the frequency of joint operations.

Chang told his fellow legislators said that he understood the rationale for requesting such powers to confiscate weapons that might have been shipped into the country.

However, the lawmaker, who is also minister of national security, conceded that the JCA was seen primarily as a revenue-protection agency, noting that its request would be discussed by the Government’s policy team.

Commissioner of the JCA, Velma Ricketts Walker, reminded the committee that her agency has a strong law-enforcement role and should receive the requisite support to carry out its mandate effectively.

“In the pursuit of ensuring that no illicit firearm, ammunition, and component parts pass through the ports that we are able to detect, and if we have immediate intelligence that something might go awry, that we must be in a position to retrieve those items as quickly as possible,” she said.

Senator Charles Sinclair wanted to know whether JCA officials had requested similar powers under a new Customs Bill that is now being reviewed by a joint select committee of Parliament.

The JCA executives said the appeal for powers to search without a warrant was not requested in that proposed law.

Sinclair questioned why the JCA officials were requesting such powers in the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022 when no such request was made in relation to its proposed parent law.

“It seems as if you want to come through the back door, then to get what you want,” Sinclair quipped.

However, Ricketts Walker described his comments as unfortunate.

Sinclair apologised for the remark.

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