The recently heightened security measures, due to the unrest in Haiti, have resulted in the arrest and detention of several men who are wanted in their home country for criminal activities.
Making the disclosure, Acting Commissioner of Police, Mr. Christopher Eyre says the individuals were nabbed after a vessel caring them was intercepted. He also reported that the police have spotted individuals who are trafficking Haitians who are considered to be dangerous, and they are under special watch by the islands’ security personnel.
He said the authorities have detections taking place, and the Immigration Service does screening of the individuals who are detained, to ascertain those who are “risk” to the TCI, especially those who have committed crimes in Haiti.
On the directive of the Premier, he has reported that a Strategic Coordination Group which he hairs, has been established, and includes the Turks and Caicos Islands Police Forces, the Premier’s office, the Governor’s office, the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR), the TCI Regiment, Immigration and Border Service the Attorney General’s department, the National Security Secretariat, the Ministry for Health, the Communications Directorate.
Noting that he has been able to bring together the group in five meetings, the Acting Commissioner said “we have a number of groups gathering information from partner agencies, and in Haiti, to understand the deterioration” of law and other in the neighboring country, and the impact that it can have on communities in the TCI, he said.
The SCG Head added that “sensitive information” is communicated between the partners on a 24-hour basis to “make sure that we effectively deal with the threats” that the destablising of Haiti “might present to our communities,” he said.
He said the islands have ground-based elements of the Turks and Caicos regiment, along with the police and immigration teams patrolling along the coastline, to deter illegal migration, and to detect persons who might have slipped through the maritime net.
