Paramaribo, Suriname – Senior national security ministers and top law enforcement leaders from across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) convened for the 29th session of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) on November 10 and 11, 2026, to address escalating transnational security risks, with unregulated firearms proliferation taking center stage as the most pressing shared threat facing the region. Delivering the opening address as the sitting CONSLE Chair, Suriname’s Minister of Justice and Security His Excellency Harish Monorath issued a stark public warning that illicit firearms have become the primary accelerant of widespread violent crime and entrenched gang operations across every CARICOM member state. Monorath detailed that criminal syndicates operating across the Caribbean basin have evolved far beyond local, disconnected factions: they now operate with hierarchical organizational structures, deploy sophisticated border evasion tactics, and maintain cross-border networks that exploit unmonitored maritime routes, understaffed port facilities, and porous national land boundaries to smuggle illegal weapons, narcotics, and a wide range of contraband between jurisdictions. The Surinamese cabinet official emphasized that no single Caribbean nation possesses the resources or jurisdictional authority to dismantle these transnational trafficking networks in isolation, making coordinated regional collaboration an urgent non-negotiable priority. He outlined core collective action priorities including standardized cross-border firearms tracing protocols, systematic identification of illicit weapon supply chains, targeted operations to disrupt high-priority trafficking rings, and real-time, streamlined intelligence sharing between national law enforcement bodies. Monorath specifically highlighted the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap as the foundational policy framework that must be rapidly rolled out across all member states to cut gun violence rates and uplift community public safety outcomes. As a tangible demonstration of national progress toward these goals, Suriname rolled out a fully digital centralized firearms registry earlier in 2026, developed with technical support from CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS). The new digital system replaces outdated paper-based tracking records, giving local law enforcement unprecedented ability to trace the chain of custody for every registered weapon and quickly identify illegal firearms recovered at crime scenes. Monorath confirmed that advancing the regional firearms control agenda will serve as one of the three core priorities for Suriname’s tenure leading CONSLE, alongside targeted work to align operations across police forces, customs agencies, immigration departments, coast guard units, and national prosecutorial offices to close gaps that criminal networks currently exploit. “More than any policy measure or new technology, we need consistent, cross-border political will to recognize that these interconnected security threats are not isolated national problems, but a single collective challenge that demands a unified Caribbean response,” Monorath stated. The two-day summit concluded with participating ministers finalizing actionable coordinated strategies to strengthen regional security frameworks and reduce the harm caused by illicit weapons trafficking across the Caribbean.
CARICOM Ministers Prioritise Fight Against Illegal Firearms and Gun Violence Across Caribbean
