News
TCI Police still guarded on Gang intel; but who does that profit?
By Deandrea Hamilton and Dana Malcolm
Editorial Staff
#TurksandCaicos, July 3, 2023 – It has been almost a year since the residents of the Turks and Caicos were told that there are gangs operating in their midst; murdering and trafficking in illicit goods yet identifying details on these criminal enterprises are practically non-existent.
We reached out to the Police to learn what they know and why that knowledge it hasn’t been shared with the public, even in part, to increase surveillance and make residents more aware of trends.
Magnetic Media queried who the gangs were and how they identify themselves and how many of the criminal organizations are operating in the country.
The police have replied.
“It would be inappropriate to identify gangs– as to do so would potentially compromise operational activity and alert gang members of the police forces awareness of their criminality making the targeting of them more challenging. However, the RTCIPF are striving to map out the gangs to have a coordinated approach to targeting and disrupting their criminality,” we were told.
Police also told us gang members don’t often overtly identify themselves as part of a specific gang ‘but evolve into a gang or group through their involvement in criminality together and frequent association.’
Despite this, we are told the gangs do identify themselves by name, usually attached to the area in which they operate but these names too, police failed to divulge.
We questioned where these gangs are headquartered, where they frequent and where they recruit young men,
though our questions were more geared toward providing information for caregivers and residents to be wary of having their own sons frequent once again we were told:
“It would be inappropriate to refer to specific locations that the gangs frequent or operate within and it is often the case that they will commit crime across several geographic locations.”
But this explanation exposes inconsistencies in how information is managed; the police bending their own rules when they want to. Case in point: In 2022 residents were told there were Jamaicans, Haitians and TC Bahamians heading various criminal organizations in the Turks and Caicos resulting in a bloody turf war.
The result was a spike in interest of the crime wave gripping TCI as journalists from around the region and the UK ran talk shows and headlining reports on this murder spree that spared no one. It was a disclosure which also resulted in a multi-country cooperation which eventually quelled the crime and stopped the rampage.
Proof that finger pointing has its benefits.
However, when we asked how many of these gangs were potentially spread out across the country and the size of the criminal camps, we were told, “It would be inappropriate to comment on specific numbers of gangs and the level of membership. However, the police are striving to map and assess the number of gangs and the current assessment is that the potential number of gangs operating in TCI is not exceptionally disproportionate to the population or when compared to other countries.”
Despite TCI being completely average according to Police, on the suspected amount of gangs in the country, those gangs managed to push the small nation to the top of the region (and likely the globe) in terms of murder rate.
In light of the interception of a US shipment of guns bound for the TCI last year, Magnetic Media also tried to find out if there were connections to any overseas gangs who were bankrolling the local criminals but information on that was murky as well though the Police did confirm there was evidence of overseas involvement.
“There is intelligence that would suggest that TCI, like most if not all countries in the region, have a transnational threat about organized crime with inevitable associated financial crime and money laundering.”
Despite the lengthy response, valuable information was missing, denying a nation still traumatized by the events of last year any real insight or confidence that police are vigorously working the angle of crime prevention.
TCIG knew from April that fuel factor could surge almost 80%; Minister says $500 cost-of-living payment was part of Government’s response
PROVIDENCIALES — The Turks and Caicos Government knew months before July’s shocking electricity bills that consumers faced a potentially massive increase in the fuel factor.
Minister of Information Technology and Energy E. Jay Saunders revealed Friday that Pelican Energy warned his Ministry in April that generation fuel costs were projected to rise from $3.09 per gallon in May to $4.79 in June and July.
That translated into a projected fuel factor jump from about 17.5 cents to 31 cents per kilowatt-hour — an increase of almost 80%.
Saunders said he personally advised Cabinet of the projected increase and presented options for cushioning the impact.
He characterised Government’s $500 cost-of-living payment as its “initial response” to rising fuel costs, before a separate fuel-factor subsidy was approved.
Cabinet records show Government agreed on June 24 to provide funding to mitigate the fuel-factor impact, with the relief programme approved July 8.
Eligible residential customers — those averaging less than $1,500 monthly over the previous three bills — are capped at 22 cents per kWh from July through October.
Pelican confirmed Friday that Government’s contribution was already applied to July bills, meaning the bills now triggering widespread public outrage would have been even higher without the subsidy.
Saunders did not disclose the programme’s total cost.
His admission that Government knew since April, however, raises another question amid the backlash: why were consumers not directly warned by Government about the scale of the approaching increase?
NASSAU, Bahamas — More Bahamians are accessing HIV and sexually transmitted infection-related healthcare through National Health Insurance, a trend the NHI Authority says should be viewed positively.
NHIA stressed in an August 6 statement that its 2025 figures measure healthcare utilisation, not newly diagnosed infections. They include beneficiaries screened, treated, monitored or receiving follow-up care, including people diagnosed previously.
“Increased utilisation of these services should be viewed as a positive development,” NHIA said.
The Authority pointed to “greater enrolment and use of NHI, improved access to screening and testing, continued treatment and monitoring of existing conditions, and increased willingness to seek medical care.”
The development comes amid a mixed three-year HIV picture. New diagnoses rose from 130 in 2023 to 156 in 2024, before declining to 142 in 2025.
NHIA said increased utilisation demonstrates that more beneficiaries are accessing needed healthcare and actively managing their health, reinforcing the importance of screening, early diagnosis and continued treatment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Americas has recorded 47,459 confirmed measles cases and 44 deaths in 2026, the region’s highest case count in 22 years, prompting the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to urge stronger vaccination, surveillance and rapid outbreak response.
As of July 18, cases were already more than triple the 15,011 recorded during all of 2025. Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Peru
account for 95% of confirmed cases. Guatemala leads with 30,371 cases and 26 deaths, followed by Mexico with 12,255 cases and 17 deaths.
PAHO classifies the regional public health risk as very high, citing active outbreaks, immunity gaps, international travel and populations with inadequate vaccination coverage.
The organization says prevention starts with vaccination. Countries are being urged to achieve and maintain at least 95% coverage with two doses of measles-containing vaccine, particularly protecting children and under-vaccinated communities.
Measles spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash.
PAHO is urging health authorities to detect suspected cases early and respond rapidly to stop transmission. Unvaccinated and under-vaccinated people, young children and communities with limited healthcare access face increased risk of severe illness and death.
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