Some 50 public sector financial investigators from Jamaica and other Caribbean countries have completed a short, intensive training course. They graduated recently from the Caribbean Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training Centre at Twickenham Park in St Catherine.

The participants were drawn from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Customs Department, The Jamaica Defence Force and financial investigation units from 14 English-speaking countries across the Caribbean.

Boost for graduates

Director/principal of the Caribbean Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training Centre, Bertram Millwood, said the graduates would now be better able to execute drug law-enforcement interdictions.

"They will be better equipped to carry out their financial investigations in terms of the Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering Act across the Caribbean," he said.

Persons selected were already engaged in the field, particularly in the area of money laundering. "We are strengthening the capability of officers involved in drug law enforcement, in respect of the techniques to be used, making them more effective in their general operations," Millwood pointed out.

Participants were taken from the rank of inspector up to superintendent for the police. For the military, persons were drawn from the rank of captain, and for customs, they were invited from management and supervisory levels.

Some of the participating countries were Barbados, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and the British Virgin Islands.