This Connection Between Martinique and St Lucia (And Dominica and Guadeloupe)

Final Report Youth, gangs and violence and their contribution to crime in Saint Lucia Prepared by Marcus Day In fulfilment of contract IC-UNODC 2012-054 Project GLOT63: Support to crime prevention and criminal justice reform 15 July 2013 1 “Nothing poses greater threats to civil society in CARICOM countries than the drug problem; and nothing exemplifies the powerlessness of regional governments more. That is the magnitude of the danger of drug abuse and drug trafficking hold for our community. It is a many-layered danger. At base is the human destruction implicit in drug addiction; but implicit also is the corruption of individuals and systems by the sheer enormity of the inducements of the illegal drug trade in poor countries. On top of this lie the implications for governance itself – at the hands of both external agencies engaged in international interdiction, and the drug barons themselves – the dons of the modern Caribbean – who threaten governance from within” West India Commission 1992:143 2 Table of Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................... 4 Preface ................................................................................................................. 5 Objective ............................................................................................................... 6 Executive Summary .............................................................................................. 6 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 6 Sampling and Setting ........................................................................................ 7 Domains investigated ........................................................................................ 8 Findings ................................................................................................................ 8 Trafficking and Micro Transnational Crime ........................................................... 9 Smuggling of legal goods to avoid taxation ....................................................... 9 Cocaine Trafficking, Sales and Youth ............................................................... 9 Cannabis Trafficking, Sales and Youth ........................................................... 11 Intersection of Cocaine and Cannabis Trafficking ........................................... 11 Instigators of Violence ..................................................................................... 12 A Modern Time of Terror ................................................................................. 13 Entry into the culture of criminality through criminal justice contacts ............... 16 The movement of people through Saint Lucia ................................................. 16 Cannabis and Criminality ................................................................................ 17 Cannabis Cultivation and sales in Saint Lucia and Youth Involvement ........... 19 Money Laundering and Youth Involvement ..................................................... 20 Young Males and Females and their involvement in gangs ............................ 21 Percentage of Criminality vs. Non Criminal Activities of Youth Gangs ............ 22 Involuntary Returnees (aka: Deportee) ........................................................... 23 Saint Lucia an Overview ..................................................................................... 25 Poverty in Saint Lucia ......................................................................................... 26 Decline of Bananas and Internal Migration ......................................................... 27 The Informal Economy as Refuge....................................................................... 30 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 32 Annex 1 - La Clery - A Case Study .................................................................... 33 3 Foreword Genocide, Piracy, Slavery: humanity at its most brutal Saint Lucia was born in violence and for a large part remains, just below the surface, under a thin veneer of civility, a very violent society. The pirate’s haven came first, as Saint Lucia was an excellent place to monitor merchant and gold traffic from the Spanish South. This was interlaced with wars of acquisition fought between Europeans for local control and the accompanying genocide of the indigenous population. The English privateers with letters of marque, also recognised this strategic value to monitor the movements of French fleet in Fort de France. During this time Saint Lucia was passed between the French and the English 14 times. Some of these transfers were quite bloody while others passed quietly. Those transfers after 1789 were the most bloody. The English waged an almost continuous struggle to acquire Saint Lucia and eventually prevailed in 1814. French or English, ultimately contact with the Europeans proved fatal for the indigenous population. This euro-contact resulted in the eradication, assimilation (of primarily young women and girls of childbearing age) or relocation of the entire indigenous populations. As the genocide of the indigenous was completed, the Europeans became busy facilitating the forced relocation of untold numbers persons from West Africa to the West Indies to work the sugar plantations. Every aspect of slavery was violent, the very institution, though justified under Old Testament precepts, was truly an abomination. The resulting historical trauma associated with slavery still influences people’s lives today in Saint Lucia. The war of liberation begun in 1789 with the French Revolution continues to this day with a large segment of the population wary of the perceived brutality of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force. Genocide, Piracy, Slavery: humanity at its most brutal. What effect does this violent historical context influence our present day reality in Saint Lucia? Marcus Day Castries Saint Lucia 4 Preface Saint Lucia does not exist in isolation but is a member of a community of islands seeking to bind together to take advantage of economy of scale and the . CARICOM and individual member states have struggled with this issue since inception with discussions of youth involvement in crime, violence, gangs, and other anti-social activities. The Caribbean, due to its proximity to cocaine producers in the south and it’s well established trading links with Europe and North America, is well positioned as a transit zone, accounting for an estimated 25-30% of cocaine reaching Europe.1 It is believed that the main destination for the bulk of cocaine transiting Saint Lucia is Martinique and onward to Paris and beyond. The price differential between cocaine in Venezuela and Paris provide lucrative opportunities for Venezuelan elements that appear organised enough to successfully accomplish transnational movements of cocaine through Saint Lucia and onward through Martinique in into Paris. As is usual in any business context, accompanying the transhipment of cocaine are the petty income opportunities that present themselves at the different stages of the drug’s transit from source to destination. This extra income has proven attractive to many people in areas where salaries are low and poverty is entrenched. The information gathered in this study did not support the belief that there is substantial youth involvement in the Cocaine trade. What stories that were related were limited to third party accounts and anecdotal information on other people. We spoke with very few persons involved in cocaine trafficking and those were the petty traders and not the major traffickers, It is believed that the south-north movement of cocaine operates in parallel to the counter flow of light weapons2. This contributes to national and regional instability, contributes to the rising homicide rates and fuels other organised crime activity across the region. The laundering of cocaine related earnings has compromised the financial services industry and dislocated local economies. While the economy of Saint Lucia and the rest of the Caribbean have stagnated as a result of the financial crisis of 2008, the banking system is “over liquid” with few qualified borrowers. It is perceived that government agencies, especially in law enforcement and criminal justice have been tainted by pervasive drug fuelled corruption3, further eroding public confidence in the police and in the State. Drug generated income has enabled transnational organised crime groups to challenge legitimate Caribbean governments, and to take advantage of political 1 IFS, 2019, Eastern Caribbean – Field Mission Report and Proposed Actions 2 http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2012/09/illicit-trade-in-small-arms-and-light-weapons-responsible-for-untold- suffering-globally-barbados/ 3 West India Commission 1992:143 5 fragmentation. The isolated coast lines and island geography contribute to the popularity of the sub region for the trans-shipment of cocaine. Objective The Objective of this assignment was to conduct a needs assessment to determine the profile of youth gangs in Saint Lucia. Such an assessment was intended to add depth to existing analysis on gangs in the Caribbean by using one country as a study model. Executive Summary As outlined in the methods section the findings in this report are the synopsis of one year of “informal

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