Against a backdrop of growing transnational security challenges across the Caribbean, international partners have announced new commitments of funding, resources and strategic backing to the Barbados-headquartered Regional Security System (RSS), multiple official sources confirmed to Barbados TODAY following the bloc’s recent Council of Ministers’ Meeting in Saint Lucia.
The gathering, which Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams characterized as highly productive, brought together regional leaders and global stakeholders to align on priorities for countering the rising tide of cross-border criminal activity. Attendees hammered out a series of binding agreements and strategic initiatives designed to shore up the region’s collective security capacity.
At the top of the meeting’s agenda was a mandate for coordinated, collective action across all RSS member states, centered on enhanced cross-border collaboration, aligned operational strategies, and real-time intelligence sharing to disrupt transnational criminal networks. A second key priority formalized standards for the third-country Refugee/Deportee Relocation Protocol, which operates under bilateral agreements between the United States and individual Caribbean member states. The framework requires full, unredacted information exchange between all parties, and the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires presented a complete briefing on outstanding questions and protocol details to the ministerial council, according to the official meeting outcome document obtained by Barbados TODAY.
Ministers also approved a comprehensive review of national legislative frameworks across all member states, with the goal of updating and standardizing anti-gang legislation and strengthening legal tools to counter transnational organized crime. Separately, the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) updated attendees on a new centralized gang database being developed by the Civil Gang Injunctions Unit (CGIU), and issued a formal call for member states to contribute local data to complete the initiative.
During open discussion, representatives from St. Vincent and the Grenadines raised awareness of significant unintended negative consequences stemming from kinetic strikes on commercial and civilian vessels operating in the region’s shared maritime domain, prompting further deliberation on alternative counter-maritime crime strategies.
In his executive report to the council, the RSS Executive Director confirmed that the ratification process for the Treaty of San José has been fully completed at RSS headquarters. He also outlined ongoing infrastructure upgrades: modernization work for Maritime Operations Centres across all member states will move forward as planned, funded through a development project administered by Global Affairs Canada. Additionally, a new policy provision has been approved to reallocate funds seized from criminal operations to directly support frontline crime-fighting initiatives across the region.
The meeting also advanced the RSS’s 2026 strategic action plan, which lays out a clear roadmap for expanding security cooperation. Key priorities outlined in the plan include: strengthening regional data collection and intelligence sharing frameworks; formalizing a strategic partnership with the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) via a memorandum of understanding set for signing in May 2025; establishing formal partnership agreements with Belize and the British Virgin Islands to boost regional capacity for financial crime investigations and illicit asset recovery; deepening collaboration with European Union member states on cross-border criminal investigations through alignment with the European Judicial Network. The RSS also announced plans to submit an application for observer status on the Budapest Cybercrime Convention Committee, as the region works to address rising digital criminal threats.
In a final decision addressing shifting regional drug policy trends — as more Caribbean jurisdictions move to legalize cannabis for medical or recreational use — the Council of Ministers enacted a strict zero-tolerance policy for illicit drug use among all active law enforcement officers across member states. A formal policy paper outlining implementation guidelines will be reviewed and approved by senior police and military leadership in the coming months.