As St. Vincent continues to tackle the epidemic of illegal firearms, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves issued a warning to residents on Wednesday regarding someone mailing them boxes and barrels.
Over the last week, there have been reports of illegal firearms being confiscated at Port Campden Park, with the most recent discovery on Tuesday.
“I want to advise people to not allow anyone or anybody to send a box or barrel for you if you don’t know what they are going to put in it. And when somebody says they are sending a barrel or a box but they are not in the country, you could put it in your name and clear it for them. I’m advising people to be careful.”
“I just want to tell you that we have operations at Camden Park Port, where 90% of the stuff comes in containers. We have a sophisticated scanner established there, and we can see the guns. We can see what you are bringing in even before the box is open because some people try to conceal some things in some very clever ways, which a manual search may not pick up, and we’re in the process of installing one in Kingstown.”
Gonsalves stated that he is making a general remark and would not address someone by name in regard to anything; rather, he is offering counsel since he is knowledgeable.
“Discoveries were made on Tuesday, innocent people could get into trouble by not being careful. The world is a different place, and we live in a dangerous neighborhood. The same thing happens when somebody asks you if you can do something for them. Well, nobody asks me if I can take anything, because I packed my suitcase, and if somebody packs it for me, I check it,” Gonsalves said.
The St. Vincent Parliament has passed legislation that introduces stricter punishments for certain firearm-related crimes and establishes new offences, such as firearm trafficking and the production of firearms using 3D printing technology.
The updated legislation has raised the upper limit of the penalty that a magistrate can inflict on an individual found guilty of possessing an unauthorised firearm or engaging in the forgery or counterfeiting of any licence or permission.
The maximum fine has been increased from EC$20,000 to EC$25,000, and the maximum jail sentence has been extended from seven years to 10 years, or both penalties may be applied simultaneously.
