Container Scanners; TCI waiting years for activation at sea ports and Minister Musgrove updates

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, November 17, 2022 – Tuesday’s revelation that multiple shipments of guns bound for the TCI were intercepted before they could reach the country’s shores and suspected smugglers were arrested in the US is likely to have brought a sigh of relief to many residents.  The less illegal guns available on the streets the better; especially considering the indiscriminate violence meted out on residents by those who wield them.

But the bust of those gun smuggling suspects highlights the need for sophisticated security options for the Customs Department by raising the question; just how would those guns have gotten into the islands?

Smugglers across the Caribbean are known to use boats to ferry goods and people between islands.  Human smuggling via boats in particular is a recurring problem for the Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas especially with their many islands.  Smugglers sneak in on unguarded shores bringing hundreds of people at a time for lucrative paydays, which make foiling these risky voyages more than a full time job.

But contraband also turns up at legitimate ports all the time.  In the US, a member of the 400 Mawozo gang was caught trying to send guns to Haiti in a barrel of clothing passing through customs.

In Jamaica at least twenty guns were found in a cardboard box during routine checks at the airport in January. Seven more were found after being imported in flat screen televisions in March of this year, disassembled and cleverly hidden behind the panels.  In October twenty pistols were found hidden in cereal boxes in Dominica, and the list goes on.

In Dominica law enforcement credited x-ray tech for finding the guns hidden in those cereal boxes, in other situations physical checks of the offending shipments were engaged.

Container scanners have been on the list of needs for the ports of The Turks and Caicos for years.  So far though, none have been procured for the docks.

In the 2021/22 period alone the Ports Authority said it recorded a 59 per cent increase in imported cargo volumes, handling just shy of 600,000 tons compared to 374,194 tons in the previous year.

In a statement obtained by Magnetic Media, Arlington Musgrove, Minister of Immigration and Border Services admitted government was aware of the need and was working toward implementation.

“Our visit to Barbados confirms the effectiveness of operating container scanners. Funding for scanners is included in the redevelopment of South Dock.  It is proposed to seek expedited approval to procure a mobile scanner for South Dock.  Technical assistance will be sought to assist the Ports Authority and Customs Department with preparing tender documents to procure the scanners.  Container scanners are custom built so it would take 4 to 6 months before the scanner can be in place.”

He maintained that TCIG was seeking expedited approval based on National security concerns.

Governor Nigel Dakin has also indicated that a UK Team is conducting three months of work to write a business case and prepare the tender process for “e-gates” and “e-borders”, the timeline on actual implementation though was not provided.

What is documented however, is that within weeks of improving security at TCI airports there were deeply troubling finds.  It was reported by Minister Musgrove that adding scanners and at least one special trained canine at TCI airports unearthed disguised illicit drugs.

There had also been unconfirmed reports of handguns discovered in unclaimed luggage flowing between Providenciales and Grand Turk.

With the exponential increase in cargo and the increase in gun crime, especially vicious shootings, the need for high tech security options at the sea ports in the Turks and Caicos also increases to cut off any chance of criminals using legitimate channels to import killing machines as legitimate cargo.