Stricter screening of barrels this holiday season

by Christina Smith

The Customs and Excise Department will be depending heavily on intelligence to ensure that only “desirable goods” are imported into the country during the duty-free concession period which runs from November 15 to December 31.

The season will not only bring increased shipments of barrels and packages, but also comes with the threat of illegal drugs, firearms and also ammunition penetrating the country’s borders.

Comptroller of Customs and Excise, Selwyn DaSilva told SEARCHLIGHT intelligence gathering and information sharing among regional customs and port officials provide clues as to various “concealment methods” being used by criminals to bring contraband into countries.

“We discuss trends happening… in neighbouring islands. We pass information and also share trends we see.”

The Customs and Excise Department, along with the SVG Port Authority are the main entities responsible for the checking and clearance of goods coming into the country and DaSilva told SEARCHLIGHT that border patrol is seeing criminals employing more creative methods to get illegal items into the country, including the use of electronic equipment and also the packaging of food items.

He said the Customs department has noted the complaints made by members of the public about receiving goods that have been opened, but he stressed this is a necessary part of the clearance process.

“From time to time, the public may push back at us when we examine barrels and we open their stuff… there are a lot of concealment methods.”

In 2019 and 2020, barrel shipments stood at a little over 39,000. In 2021, the year that La Soufriere erupted, barrels entering the country jumped up to 56,271 owing to donations and relief supplies sent from overseas.

Last year, 34,128 barrels were imported into the country. Of that number, the Kingstown Port received 17,486 and the Campden Park Container Port received 16, 642.

Because of the sheer volume of barrels entering the country, DaSilva said intelligence is critical in weeding out shipments with contraband, as complete “100 per cent” searches is not always practical, especially during peak periods such as the holidays.

Earlier this year, new scanners were procured for the country’s two main shipping ports as well as the Argyle International Airport to enhance measures to limit the importation of illegal items, including firearms.

It is expected that the scanners are to become operational soon, and when up and running, they will enhance the security at the ports.

In December last year, a joint operation between the police narcotics unit and customs department led to the seizure of illegal firearms – two rifles, six handguns, as well as 200 rounds of ammunition. At the time, one person was detained by police as a suspect.

Checks on shipments is not the only aspect DaSilva highlighted, as a focus point for the Customs Department.

He said the department usually takes on additional staff as well as re-routing internal staff to warehouses to deal with the increased workload during the holiday season.

He explained there are specially assigned officers, usually from the intelligence and enforcement departments, who monitor the staff at the warehouse.

“They are the ones who have the information on the front-end guys. If anyone is colluding … they can keep track to see who is involved.”

He also explained that the software monitoring system tracks all personnel who handle the clearance of barrels of shipments.

Port officials told SEARCHLIGHT that increased security measures have been installed at the sheds were barrels are stored to ensure that persons do not attempt to steal contraband items before they can be discovered.