US Homeland Security Intercepts Firearms Destined for Turks and Caicos Islands

#USA, November 15, 2022 – Working closely with TCI counterparts, US law enforcement partners have made significant advances in the fight against the illegal importation of firearms to the Turks and Caicos Islands. 

According to a government press release, officers from the US Department of Homeland Security ‘Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) and Customs and Border Protection intercepted multiple shipments of firearms and ammunition bound for the Turks and Caicos Islands.  
 
Following an investigation in the US, working in partnership with officers from Turks and Caicos Islands Customs Department and Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, enforcement actions have been taken in the United States, resulting in the arrest of suspects and disrupting the criminal network’s ability to traffic firearms.
 
Minister of Immigration and Border Services, Hon. Arlington Musgrove said, “This is an important development in our joint fight to protect the borders of the Turks and Caicos Islands from illegal shipments of firearms and ammunition.  Our Customs Officers have a range of capabilities at our ports of entry and our partnership with our US colleagues is one of our most valued, which makes us greater than the sum of our parts.  Officers from the US Homeland Security Investigations operate with us both here, on our soil, and in the US, where these shipments were spotted.  I look forward to the developments to come in these investigations”.
 
HSI Regional Attaché Jeffrey Grimming said,  “Homeland Security Investigations, leveraging a robust criminal and administrative authority, work with our international partners to identify, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which legitimate trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s top priority in the Caribbean is countering the trafficking of firearms into the region through HSI’s Caribbean Firearms Initiative.  HSI agents focus to dismantle these organizations both in the United States and abroad through collaborative efforts and partnerships such as the one with the Ministry of Immigration and Border Services, Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force and TCI government officials”.
 
Persons wishing to report information anonymously to Crimestoppers can do so by calling 1-800-8477.