Photo courtesy g.originals/flickr.com

June, 2009

In the last decade, some Caribbean countries have experienced an alarmingly high growth in crime rates that has cast a gloomy shadow on this idyllic image. In the English-speaking Caribbean, which has been particularly affected in recent years, the average homicide rates rose to 30 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants per year (compared to the U.S. rate of 5.6 per 100,000 in 2005). This represents one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Jamaica’s homicide rates were above 35 per 100,000 in the last decade and spiked to 56 per 100,000 in 2005, which has made Jamaica the country with the highest homicide rate in the world and won it the name of the world’s murder capital. Trinidad and Tobago reveals a similarly troubling pattern. The country has recently experienced a sharp increase in homicide rates, rising impressively with more than 400% from 7 per 100,000 in 1999 to 30 per 100,000 in 2007. Guyana has also experienced a rise in homicide rates from 11 per 100,000 in 1998 to 27 per 100,000 in 2004. In the Dominican Republic, the homicide rate almost doubled in recent years.

The alarmingly rapid growth in homicide statistics is mainly attributed to the recent proliferation of gang violence in the region. Among the Caribbean states, Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago are the countries with the most severe gang problems. The police have recently reported the existence in Jamaica of about 200 gangs. In 2005, there were 66 known gangs in Trinidad and Tobago with approximately 500 members. Apart from their significant impact on homicide rates, gangs have seriously affected some Caribbean national economies and have emerged as an international problem through their involvement in drug and arms trafficking. Although the main problems are clear, finding the solution for them has been a complex task for the Caribbean and the international community.

The complication surrounding the issue of gang violence already starts with a heated debate on how to define a gang. There is no universally adopted definition that specifies the gang’s exact size or function. As a result, gangs are often mistaken with armed groups or organized criminal networks. In order to incorporate all different types of gangs in the Caribbean and at the same time attempt to distinguish gangs from other units, for the purposes of this article, I will use Dr. Herbert Gayle’s definition: gangs are broadly defined as a group of 3 or more persons operating together with a degree of permanence and competing with a similar group. Max Manwaring further adds that gangs are mainly interested in controlling territory or gaining commercial profit through illegal trade. Usually, to mark their territory they draw specific graffiti, tattoo their bodies with a particular sign, or wear distinguishable clothes.

Economic Costs: The Caribbean Touristic Paradise Reconsidered

Apart from the impact on homicide rates, gangs have emerged as a serious concern due to the substantial economic costs that their recent proliferation has incurred. A 2007 report commissioned by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Bank estimated that the high homicide rates in the Caribbean divert foreign and domestic investment. Due to the additional costs incurred by anti-gang security measures, companies find working in the region increasingly unprofitable. Estimates reveal that security costs for small companies in Jamaica have recently increased to 17 percent of the overall annual revenue. In a 2006 World Bank survey, 37 percent of business managers working in the Caribbean explained that due to the increased crime rates, they have reduced their investment in the region. The 2007 report also calculates that if Jamaica and Haiti reduce their homicide rates to 8.1 per 100,000, each country will gain a massive annual 5.4 percent GDP growth.

The sector most heavily affected by the increase of gangs and gang violence is the tourism industry, which amounts to 15 percent of the overall regional GDP. Tourism is Jamaica’s largest employer--amounting to 10 percent of Jamaica’s GDP and 6 percent of Trinidad and Tobago’s GDP. In recent years, the violent attacks on tourists in these two countries have increased. Given the vital importance of security for the development of the tourism industry, the hotels in these Caribbean states have been struggling to keep tourists by providing a full-service holiday package. It is widely believed that such offers reduce important linkages between the tourists and the local economy by impeding the consumption of local products and hence the overall benefit for the Caribbean.

At the Crossroads of Drug Trafficking and Gun Flows

Caribbean gangs have also become an international concern because of their involvement in drug and arms trafficking going through Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. Drug trafficking has sustained the presence of gangs in the Caribbean by creating a vicious circle that uses the money inflows from illicit trade to further strengthen and enlarge the Caribbean gangs. The gangs, in turn, increase their involvement in intra-regional drug trafficking to gain more money. Furthermore, drug trafficking has contributed to a sharp increase in the availability and usage of firearms.

The Caribbean is located at a major crossroads between a main route of illegal drugs (flowing from the Andean region, the world's main cocaine producer, to the world’s largest markets in the United States and Europe) and arms (flowing from the United States to South America). Curbing the drug and arms flows in the Caribbean is particularly challenging for the local authorities, because the vast territorial waters, the expansive coastlines, and the inadequate law enforcement present an insurmountable challenge for the few patrolling boats. As the demand for drugs in the United States increased in the 1980s, gangs in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago became a main transhipment point for cocaine smuggling. Due to weak law enforcement, corrupt governments, and an overall disillusionment with the capacity of the state to enforce law and order, profits quickly increased. This made Caribbean gangs an attractive alternative to employment, which propelled their fast proliferation and consequently led to increased drug trade. It is estimated that the annual cocaine flow from the Andean region through the Caribbean to the United States and Europe in 2007 amounts to 240 metric tons and brings an income of US$3.3 billion. A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 2008 estimates that the drug flow through the Caribbean represents 50 percent of both the US and European supply each year. This figure is claimed to be steadily increasing due to the recent efforts to crack down on Central America’s traditional drug-smuggling routes through Mexico, which are now shifting to the Caribbean.