U.S. federal officials make major seizure of arms, ammunition bound for Turks and Caicos

Several shipments of illegal firearms and ammunition bound for the Turks and Caicos Islands have been seized by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection agents, officials in the sun-swept Caribbean territory said Tuesday.

Along with the weapon seizure, U.S. federal agents have also arrested several suspects, the British territory’s government said in a release.

“This is an important development in our joint fight to protect the borders of the Turks and Caicos Islands from illegal shipments of firearms and ammunition,” said Turks and Caicos Minister of Immigration and Border Services Arlington Musgrove.

A tiny archipelago with fewer than 40,000 residents, the Turks and Caicos has been struggling with a surge in homicides amid drugs and gang-related violence in recent months. The murder count is at 33 so far this year, according to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police, which exceeds the record set in 2020 when the year ended with 22 homicides.

The current murder rate, which includes a triple homicide earlier this month, is disproportionate to the territory’s small size and threatens to undermine not just its quiet, relaxed way of life but its reputation as one of the Caribbean’s leading tourism destinations.

In response to the crime wave, the Turks and Caicos government has requested help from police officers in the Bahamas and authorities in the United Kingdom and the United States.

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Homeland Security Investigations in Miami declined to comment on the recent seizures or the arrests, telling the Miami Herald that there is an ongoing investigation.

In a statement provided to the Herald from the Turks and Caicos government, Homeland Security Investigations Regional Attaché Jeffrey Grimming said the agency is working with its “international partners to identify, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which legitimate trade, travel, and finance move.”

“HSI’s top priority in the Caribbean is countering the trafficking of firearms into the region through HSI’s Caribbean Firearms Initiative,” Grimming said. “HSI agents focus to dismantle these organizations both in the United States and abroad through collaborative efforts and partnerships such as the one with the Ministry of Immigration and Border Services, Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force and TCI government officials.”

In an interview with the Herald earlier this year, officials with the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which collaborates with HSI and other federal agencies, said that since 2020 about half of all firearms-export investigations have been concentrated in the Caribbean region — a top smuggling destination fueled by the demand from drug traffickers and huge black-market markups on U.S.-made guns. The other 50% are scattered throughout other parts of the world.

On Wednesday, the islands’ police commissioner further confirmed U.S. support in helping his force root out crime with confirmation that six people had been arrested during a police operation in the Dock Yard and the Bight areas of Providenciales, the main tourist hub and where the majority of shootings have been taking place.

Trevor Botting said the 45-person operation occurred during the early hours of Wednesday and involved Turks and Caicos and Bahamian police officers, local immigration agents and U.S. law enforcement agencies providing air support. One of the persons arrested on crime and immigration matters, Botting said, “is regarded as particularly significant in relation to the recent surge in shootings.”

Five additional arrests, he said, were made during road checks that also led to the removal of illegal tints and the seizure of six vehicles.

“Such operations will continue and we will be relentless and 100% committed to hunting down the criminals who we believe are responsible for the serious crime that is blighting the lives of our communities,” Botting said. “It is only a matter of time before they are apprehended.”