Arising out of the death of gang leader Donovan 'Bulbie' Bennett, Minister of National Security and Peoples National Party vice-president, Peter Phillips, said it ws unacceptable for any member of any political party to be associated with criminals. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, has said that the region must sharpen its ability to defend against threats of international terrorism, which may be presented during the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup.

"We dare not lose sight of the fact, that during the Cricket World Cup, there will be citizens drawn from either side of the divide of the war on terror, and so the Caribbean needs to do all that is possible to prepare to meet any eventuality," he said.

Dr. Phillips was speaking at last week's graduation ceremony for 40 regional police officers at the Caribbean Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training Centre in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine.

Commendable pattern

He noted that in preparation for the tournament, the Caribbean partners have forged a "commendable pattern of cooperation in the area of intelligence gathering and sharing". This cooperation, he said, showed all the signs of lasting way beyond the culmination of the World Cup and was a positive step for the region.

"This (training) course is just one manifestation of that cooperation, and because of it and others in the past, intelligence officers across the region are able to share information in real time for the protection of the citizens of the region," he pointed out.

Illegal narcotics

According to the National Security Minister, the region "is beset by a wave of traffickers, who trade in illegal narcotics and ... they compromise the integrity of our national institutions, our financial institutions with laundered dirty money, our customs, security forces, political institutions, commercial activities and the very underpinnings of our communities and the morale of our people."

The 40 law officers, drawn from 12 island states including Jamaica, participated in two five-week courses in narcotic intelligence and investigation. Areas covered included intelligence analysis, report writing, information technology, and security awareness and surveillance.