Barbados launches asset recovery unit to seize crime proceeds from drug traffickers and corrupt officials

Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams announced a dedicated asset recovery unit to pursue unexplained wealth from drug traffickers, firearms dealers and corrupt officials.

Barbados targets criminal wealth with new asset recovery unit

A dedicated squad will pursue the proceeds of crime and unexplained wealth held by corrupt officials, illicit firearms traders and drug traffickers, Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams announced at a regional security symposium. Barbados Today reports that the unit, housed within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, is expected to fund its own operations through seized criminal assets rather than the public purse.

Abrahams said the era of criminals serving a sentence or paying a fine and walking away with their wealth intact was over. "The same people are involved, and the same networks are used for all of them," he told reporters. "So we need to start to follow the money."

Arrests and convictions alone were no longer sufficient, the attorney general declared. "For everybody who falls in that category, we need to be looking at everything that they own, every contact that they have. They need to justify every single thing in their possession or that they have access to. And if they can't, we seize it, we sell it, and we use the proceeds of the sales of the unexplained wealth or the seizures to fund the programmes that help us to track more of the illegal activities."

His warning was direct: "I want to send a message out there to all in that space. Don't sit comfortably. We coming after everything that you have. The days of persons involved in corruption, illegal drugs and firearms sitting comfortably are over."

FATF review shifts focus to enforcement

Barbados recently completed its fourth-round evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF). Abrahams said the emphasis was now moving beyond whether countries have the requisite laws and structures in place to whether those laws are being used effectively.

"We can't just relax and trade on the fact that we have a whole set of laws that technically speaking deal with that, but that we are using the laws to track, trace, seize," he said. Achieving that, he added, required all agencies within the criminal justice system to break down institutional barriers: "We cannot operate in silos."

Regional cooperation central to strategy

In his opening address to the symposium, Abrahams argued that small Caribbean states with limited resources could not tackle illicit financial flows and transnational crime in isolation. All relevant agencies must be willing to share information to respond to the evolving nature of crime affecting every Caribbean island.

"Everybody wants to keep their information to themselves, but the criminals are not operating in silos. They are using their networks," he said.

Citing United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime figures, Abrahams noted that money laundering accounts for between two and five per cent of the region's GDP, while the broader criminal economy represents between 11 and 14 per cent of total economic activity. "Think of what those dollar figures represent," he said. "They represent the solution to many of our pressing challenges. US$20bn to US$30bn gets us the strength of our borders and our regional and domestic security arrangements and agencies."

"To effectively stop these flows, we must dismantle interrelated criminal networks that give rise to them," he added.

RSS and UWI back the push for partnership

Regional Security System (RSS) Executive Director Rear Admiral Errington Shurland endorsed Abrahams' call for deeper collaboration, saying Caribbean people's safety depended directly on how well agencies worked together. Shurland urged regional security discussions to move beyond examining governance and operational structures toward building genuine strategic partnerships.

Professor Derek Chadee, deputy principal of the University of the West Indies at St Augustine, warned that the region must improve its ability to identify vulnerabilities before threats materialise. "Crime is changing in its methods and reach," he said, noting that criminals were increasingly exploiting new technologies and operating across borders. Digital development across the region must therefore be matched by stronger capabilities to understand, anticipate and respond to emerging threats, Chadee said.

The RSS and UWI are also expected to sign a memorandum of understanding during the symposium, covering education, professional development, research, crisis management, public engagement and technological innovation, and creating opportunities for students to gain practical experience through internships with the RSS.

Source: Barbados Today