The international dragnet between the United States and Jamaica was recently strengthened and outfitted with teeth with the recent signing of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) last month.
Long before the SOFA agreement, members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) had been under the steady scrutiny of United States investigators for their role in the multi-billion dollar narcotics trade.
In 2020, three JCF constables stationed in St James were arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on drug trafficking charges. The cops, two men and a woman, were picked up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia, after being found in possession of cocaine.
With the official signing of SOFA, a framework is now officially established for the United States investigations to pursue suspects on Jamaican soil. This move is expected to yield even more arrests in the coming months, as the country grapples with high levels of corruption and organised crime.
Official local reports confirm that “international partners” are working alongside Jamaican security forces to probe a transnational drug-smuggling syndicate linked to the Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL).
Sources close to the investigations have widely highlighted that U.S. agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), maintain an active ground presence to track shipments originating from or tying back to the United States.
The FBI is increasingly being featured in high-level probes involving high-ranking officers, fraudsters and drug smugglers, with some of these investigations resulting in multiple arrests.
The exact number of FBI agents actively involved in investigations in Jamaica is not publicly known, but the Major Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) and the JCF have openly acknowledged that they work in close coordination with U.S. law enforcement officials to tackle organised crime. The joint efforts have been focused primarily on dismantling transnational criminal networks, intercepting narcotics shipments at maritime borders, and disrupting airport smuggling rings.
However, according to local media reports, several high-ranking policemen and soldiers are being investigated in connection with the seizure of cocaine from a police storage facility at the counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Division (C-TOC) in January. The drugs were found by officers from the Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division (FNID) while conducting investigations into a drug bust involving a senior cop that was assigned to C-TOC.
In February, Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake disclosed sweeping changes, which saw the reassignment of the leadership of C-TOC and its supporting staff, as well as the formation of a Specialised Investigation Branch (SIB) under the Crime Portfolio whose operations mirror C-TOC’s.
While there is no clear indication of the role the US and particularly the FBI, may be playing in the C-TOC investigation, specialised anti-narcotics investigators from the US have continued to be directly involved in multi-billion dollar money laundering, scamming and drug trafficking probes involving Jamaicans.
Only two months ago, FBI operatives captured Jamaican-born fugitive Elaine Angene Escoe in Jamaica. Escoe, who was featured on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list, was apprehended following a coordinated operation with the JCF Fugitive Apprehension Team. She is to face federal charges for her alleged role in a scheme that fraudulently obtained more than $32 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
The FBI has also been actively pursuing lotto scammers across the island, with several arrests and extradition orders made following collaborations between the JCF and US law enforcement officials.
The FBI was also invited to assist with the investigation of the massive fraud at the Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) in 2023. Several high-profile clients, including sprinter Usain Bolt has been affected by the scam.
With the increased role of the FBI and other specialised investigators under SOFA, more high-profile cases of corruption are likely to come under the spotlight.
Already, a permanent Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office is established at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston so that specialised personnel can work directly with the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and local customs services to investigate and execute interdictions.
“The DEA Kingston Country Office is responsible, under the policy guidance of the Secretary of State and U.S. Ambassador, for all programmes associated with narcotics violations and related crimes with foreign law enforcement counterparts,” the US Embassy in Kingston states on its website.
“In addition to investigative work with Jamaican law enforcement agencies, the DEA Kingston Country Office provides technical support to these agencies in an effort to assist them in reducing narcotics manufacturing and trafficking through training and the sharing of operational techniques and enforcement methods. DEA also collects and analyses criminal organisation intelligence which is made available to host government law enforcement counterparts,” the Embassy noted.