27 October, 2008 - Published 18:45 GMT

Jamaica battling guns for drugs trade

Jamaica is trying to contain what is seen as a serious problem contributing to the island's escalating crime rate - a growing trade in guns for drugs.

The authorities in the capital, Kingston, say that weapons, many of them from Haiti, are being exchanged for marijuana.

The trade is being seen as the major source of illegal firearms entering Jamaica.

An average of around 1500 people are murdered each year there.

And guns are the weapons of choice in the majority of the killings.

Weapons seized

In 2007, Jamaican police seized more than 650 guns.

So far this year they have recovered nearly 450.

Exporting marijuana or ganja is big business in Jamaica with north American and Europe being the traditional markets for those plying that trade.

But the narcotics on their way to these ports are now making an unscheduled stop in Haiti, where they are traded for guns, a valuable commodity on the streets of the Jamaican capital.

Haitian army weapons

The Haitian link was apparently helped by the disbanding of the army in the French-speaking Caribbean country, and the fall of former Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide.

During this period, some Haitians fleeing their country ended up in Jamaica.

Assistant police commissioner Glenmore Hinds runs Operation Task Force, the crime task force that targets Jamaican gangs and the drugs trade.

He says the firearms coming from Haiti are largely "handguns, pistols and revolvers".

Some Jamaican fishermen have also been implicated in the smuggling of illegal guns into the island.

Fishermen's "payday"

One local who claims to know people involved in the trade told the BBC: "It's worth a whole heap of money, they sell it and get a whole heap of money. It's a big payday for them."

Smugglers are reported to be making tens of thousands of dollars.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding is on record as blaming the small Haitian community on the island for the development of the guns for drugs trade.

He told the Jamaican parliament that there was an increasing presence of Haitians in Jamaica.

"There's a link between many of them that are here, and the operatives in the southern part of Haiti. It is a major threat to the security of the country," the Jamaican prime minister told parliament.

Haitian scapegoat

However, Meltar Desomley from the Haitian/Jamaican society in Kingston said that blaming the Haitians in Jamaica is wrong.

"The politicians and the police have jumped on the bandwagon, because it is so much easier to just scapegoat Haiti," she said.

The majority of the weapons that come through Haiti to Jamaica originated from the United States.

Haiti has become a transhipment point between the two countries - one wants guns, the other drugs.

Jamaican authorities say they are working with officials from both countries to tackle the trade.

They would like to see greater co-operation, arguing that without this there's only so much they can do to stop the gun-runners.