Antigua and Barbuda is moving forward with a critical national security upgrade, after the government greenlit funding for cutting-edge X-ray scanning systems designed to inspect full shipping containers and cargo pallets. The new equipment forms a core part of the country’s expanded strategy to intercept illegal firearms and other contraband flowing across its borders.
According to Maurice Merchant, Director General of Communications, the acting comptroller of customs has already received formal orders to launch the procurement process without delay. For years, the nation’s official ports of entry have relied heavily on manual inspections of incoming cargo, a labor-intensive and error-prone process that has left gaps in security screening.
Security officials have long identified a particularly challenging smuggling tactic: rather than shipping fully assembled weapons, criminal networks are breaking firearms into separate components that are disguised as everyday goods, making them extremely difficult to spot through manual checks. “The entire guns are not coming on any shipment,” Merchant explained. “Parts of these weapons are being shipped to Antigua in parts.” He added that many components are engineered to look like ordinary items, such as pens, before they are assembled into functional weapons once they enter the country.
Alongside rolling out new scanning technology, the government plans to deliver specialized training for customs officers to help them identify disguised firearm components and other hidden contraband. Officials are also evaluating requests for additional surveillance equipment for the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force, to boost monitoring along the country’s lengthy and hard-to-patrol maritime borders, which have historically been vulnerable to unauthorized smuggling activity.
Merchant emphasized that the upgrade is a necessary response to the evolving tactics of transnational criminal networks. As criminal groups adapt their smuggling methods to avoid detection, he noted, law enforcement and border security agencies must continuously update their tools and adjust their operational strategies to keep pace.
Authorities project that the new high-capacity scanners will drastically cut the number of illegal shipments that slip through the country’s inspection regime. “With the new X-ray machines at the port, it is believed that some of these illegal shipments will be captured,” Merchant said. While no official timeline for delivery and installation has been released to the public, Merchant confirmed that full funding has been allocated, and official procurement directives were issued to customs leadership last week.