Unsecure seaports a challenge for police – Assistant COP

Assistant Commissioner of Police Frankie Joseph says one of the main factors contributing to the flow of guns into this country is the limited police resources to secure seaports.

Speaking as a guest on Cross Country Radio on November 21, Joseph said while the Coastguard unit is equipped with two safe boats,{{more}} one of which is based in Canouan and the other at Calliaqua, it is still difficult to address the problem of guns coming into the country via seaports.

“Because our borders are very open, it is a challenge to secure them. It is a challenge to secure the borders because we have the Grenadine islands and we have St Vincent itself and we are taking into consideration our limited resources in terms of our coastguard,” Joseph said on the programme.

“One of the safe boats is on mainland, along with another coastguard boat, and it is really a challenge to patrol the borders… The coastguard do a lot of patrols, but because of our open coastlines, it is really posing a challenge,” he disclosed.

Joseph, however, hastened to state the coastguard have been doing a tremendous job in trying to address the problem.

“Even with all the arrests and patrols that our men do, persons are still coming because of all the openness of our coastline. We have stepped up patrols and have been working along with the Regional Security System (RSS) to get certain technological information,” he added.(KW)