Opposition senator Ryan Walters on Friday urged authorities to intensify the use of existing financial crime legislation to dismantle gangs, arguing that targeting the flow of illicit money is critical to reversing Barbados’ worsening crime trend.
As the Senate took up the Criminal Gangs (Prevention and Control) Bill, Senator Walters said Barbados had reached an alarming stage, with violent crime becoming a regular feature of daily life.
“On average, one murder a week in this country,” he said, noting that crime had been a major public concern for the past seven to eight years but had intensified significantly over the last two-and-a-half years.
“For the last 18 to 24 months, we have had at least on average, one murder a week in this country. Last week, while this bill was being debated in the other place…there was a murder on that same day. Two nights ago there was a murder in this country. So this topic, this has been a hot topic.”
While supporting efforts to tackle gang activity, Senator Walters warned that legislation by itself would not solve the problem.
“Legislation alone will not address the issues that we face today,” he said. “Passing legislation will not address it alone. Enforcement will address it as well.”
The Democratic Labour Party’s approach, Senator Walters declared, was to dismantle criminal networks by targeting those financing illegal activities rather than focusing solely on young gang members carrying out orders.
“When we talk about the sources of finance, that’s what we’re talking about,” he said. “Who’s funding the illicit trade, who’s paying to get the guns into Barbados, who’s paying to bring in the drugs, who’s paying to give somebody a gun to go and shoot another person. We’re talking about cutting off the head of the lizard.”
He questioned whether provisions from the Proceeds and Instrumentalities of Crime Act could be more effectively integrated into the proposed gang legislation to make it easier to identify and seize assets linked to criminal enterprises.
He asked: “Can the bill be strengthened if there are specific elements of that act that are either inserted or drawn on specifically so that when a person is taken into custody, charged or convicted of being a gang member, there are other actions that can happen swiftly to deal with getting to the source of the funds?”
The opposition senator also challenged the government to demonstrate whether existing legislation was producing meaningful results.
“I am sure it is known that there is the Proceeds and Instrumentalities Act, but even under that act, passed in 2019, is it working?”
“What are the results of that act? How many criminal organisations have been investigated and financially dismantled since 2019? How many of those luxury vehicles that the minister referred to have been seized? How many gang leaders have been stripped of their assets that fund the criminal activity? So a part of this is also about the results of some of these legislations that have been passed. Are they working for the purpose that they were intended to?”
“We cannot focus then on only picking up the guys on the block. We have to cut off the head so that the criminal activity dies.”
(SB)
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