Police welcome Caricom Arrest Warrant Treaty

The local law enforcers welcome the Caricom Arrest Warrant Treaty which was approved at the recent Heads of Government meeting hosted in Guyana.

The treaty which was announced by Prime Minister of Dominica and Chairman of the conference, Roosevelt Skerrit, is slated to take effect before the end of the year.

During an interview with media operatives on Wednesday, Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud said the treaty will ‘extend the arms’ of the force.

“Normally, to get a fugitive out from one country into another country, you have to go through a process called extradition which is a legal process. This diverts from that extradition process; so the way I understand it, once the warrant is issued, all the countries that sign on can pass that information to their colleagues/counterparts in the other countries, they will make the arrest and we take the fugitive at the border or somewhere” he explained.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum who also commented on the issue told the press that the move is indeed going to be helpful to the Guyana Police Force especially when it comes to dealing with drug traffickers.

Dominica’s Prime Minister had disclosed that “the arrest warrant treaty would enhance law enforcement ability to address matters of cross-border crimes…If we are to enter into this treaty, if someone from Dominica committed a crime and moved to St. Vincent and the Grenadines,the authorities there would be able to arrest that individual and repatriate them to Dominica to face charges,” at a press conference that followed the end of the 37th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Guyana.

He further disclosed that it was agreed that urgent steps should be taken to complete several critical regional security agreements.