An operation headed by the US Department of Homeland Security resulted in the seizure of 318 firearms, 314 magazines, and almost 20,000 rounds of ammunition bound for CARICOM member states.
Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday following his return from the 46th CARICOM Heads of Government Conference, Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said over half a million shipments were inspected during the exercise, called Operation Hammerhead, which was led by US Homeland Security in 2023.
The exercise took place over the course of three weeks in September 2023 in an effort to crack down on the illicit firearms trade between the US and CARICOM member states.
He said as of data received in January 2024, during the operation, 600,000 packages destined for CARICOM were assessed and given increased scrutiny.
Of that number, 4,600 were deemed to require enhanced inspection, and following these inspections, 318 firearms, 314 magazines and 19,270 rounds of ammunition were found bound for the Caribbean.
