Jamaica welcomes deepened security partnership with United States to combat transnational organised crime – IRIE FM

August 19, 2026

As Jamaica continues to partner with the United States to disrupt the movement of illegal firearms and narcotics in the region, the Government says it will do so with the full respect for human rights and international law.

The assurance was given by the Ministry of National Security and Peace in a statement today.

It comes against the background of last week’s Americas Counter Cartel Coalition Forum in Panama.

During the forum, United States Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth acknowledged Jamaica’s growing security partnership with the U.S.A., and its contribution to efforts to combat narcotics trafficking and organised criminal activity across the Caribbean.

He also lauded Jamaica for collaborating with the U.S.A. on a new partnership to combat narco-terrorists transiting through the Caribbean.

However, he did not provide details about the partnership.

In the Ministry’s statement today, it says the Government welcomes the deepening of its longstanding security partnership with the United States Government.

This as both countries strengthen their cooperation against transnational organised criminal networks involved in guns and narcotics trafficking, as well as other illicit activities through Jamaica and across the Caribbean.

The Ministry says Jamaica’s growing security partnership with the U.S.A. remains firmly grounded in the country’s own national interests and established laws and principles.

It adds that the Government remains committed to cooperation that reinforces the capacity of Jamaican institutions, protects Jamaica’s borders and maritime space, disrupts the movement of illegal firearms and narcotics, and makes Jamaican communities safer.

The Ministry says the enhanced partnership represents yet another stage in the decades of cooperation between Jamaica and the United States in national security, law enforcement, defence, counternarcotics, maritime security, intelligence sharing, training and capacity development.

In this context, Jamaica also continues to work closely with its Caribbean and hemispheric partners and is also strengthening cooperation with partners in Europe and beyond.

The Ministry adds that this reflects the increasingly global character, reach and sophistication of the criminal networks that threaten Jamaica and other countries in the region.

According to the Ministry, Jamaica has been invited to several security partnerships.

This is due largely to its successful approach of using joint military-police command and operational coordination with sustained social intervention and violence-prevention measures in vulnerable communities to reduce crime, has increasingly attracted the attention of international partners.

Meanwhile, Dr. Horace Chang represented Jamaica at last week’s forum in Panama, which brought together countries from across the hemisphere.

The Ministry says these nations agreed in March 2026, to bolster cooperation against transnational criminal organisations.

At the meeting last week, the Ministry says Dr. Chang stressed that the changing nature of organised crime requires countries across the hemisphere to work more closely together.

He said the scale, financial resources and technological capabilities of criminal networks threatening Jamaica today, do not recognise national borders.

Dr. Chang indicated that the guns entering communities, the drugs moving through the Caribbean, and the financial networks supporting organised crime are transnational and if not tackled, they will threaten the security and institutional stability of small island states like Jamaica.

As such, he called for a pragmatic and effective response that must combine strong domestic security capabilities with effective international cooperation.