St. Lucia: Drug trafficking, police involvement and availability of state protection to those threatened by drug traffickers (2003-2004)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa |
| Publication Date | 21 December 2005 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | LCA100808.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, St. Lucia: Drug trafficking, police involvement and availability of state protection to those threatened by drug traffickers (2003-2004), 21 December 2005, LCA100808.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/45f147f97.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Comments | Corrected version March 2007 |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to the 2005 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, St. Lucia "is a well-used transshipment site for cocaine from South America to the U.S. and Europe.... Foreign and local narcotics traffickers are active in St. Lucia and have been known to stockpile cocaine and marijuana for onward shipment" (Mar. 2005). The same report indicates that
[i]n 2004, all of the Eastern Caribbean countries were operating rigid-hull inflatable boats received from the U.S. as their principal maritime counternarcotics interceptor.... All but one Eastern Caribbean state have functioning interagency operations centers, called National Joint Coordination Centers (NJCC's). The NJCC's also have access to the Regional Clearance System, administered by the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council in St. Lucia, which registers small craft and crew movements in the Caribbean. Both the U.S. and the UK are encouraging and assisting efforts to improve NJCC effectiveness.... St. Lucia does not have an operational National Joint Coordination Center (International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2005 Mar. 2005).
The most recent information on drug trafficking from the Organization of American States (OAS), Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), states that
St. Lucia [had] approved its National Anti-drug Plan with an expiration date of February 2005. The country inform[ed] that the Plan, when renewed, [would] continue to be implemented by its central national authority, the Substance Abuse Advisory Council Secretariat. The Plan receive[d] funding by direct allocation of the central government, allocations from domestic agencies, and funds obtained from international sources. The total domestic budget for the plan,... has decreased somewhat in the last three years from US$97,728 in 2002 to US$85,359 in 2004. St. Lucia report[ed] that its current budget [was] not adequate to meet its needs, but that severely limited national resources prohibit[ed] additional funding.
CICAD [was] concerned that St. Lucia's National Anti-Drug Plan [had] expired and that a new plan [had] not been written and submitted for approval by national authorities (OAS 2004, 1).
No information on whether or not the Government of St. Lucia has written and presented a new National Anti-Drug Plan since the February 2005 plan expired could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
The report Evaluation of Progress in Drug Control (2003-2004) from CICAD established that
St. Lucia's legislation criminalizes drug trafficking and the possession of drugs for personal use. The country reports that the number of persons charged for illicit drug trafficking increased from 280 in 2002 to 532 in 2003. The number of persons arrested for illicit drug possession decreased from 780 in 2002 to 536 in 2003. While virtually all persons arrested for illicit drug possession in 2002 and 2003 were tried, St. Lucia did not provide information on the disposition of these cases or any of those related to drug trafficking in the same timeframe....
CICAD is not able to evaluate the effectiveness of the country's actions to prevent illicit drug trafficking and/or possession due to the absence of statistics regarding the number of persons convicted in connection with such crimes (ibid., 5-6).
In addition, the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2005, provided the following statement:
The GOSL [Government of St. Lucia] police reported seizing 1142 kilograms of cocaine and 207 kilograms of marijuana through November 2004. They arrested 399 persons on drug charges and eradicated approximately 137,606 marijuana plants. The GOSL seized U.S. $488,000 in drug related assets. The USG [Government of United States] and the GOSL cooperate extensively on law enforcement matters. St. Lucia law permits asset forfeiture after conviction. The law directs the forfeited proceeds to be applied to treatment, rehabilitation, education and preventive measures related to drug abuse. In 2003, St. Lucia revised its criminal code. This revision modernized existing legislation to deal with wire-fraud and other modern finance-related offenses (International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2005 Mar. 2005).
The population of St. Lucia is 161,000 people (Canada 16 Nov. 2005). According to a November 2005 report issued by the United Kingdom, drug-related crime has been increasing in St. Lucia "with twenty homicides in the period January to July 2005" (22 Nov. 2005).
The report Evaluation of Progress in Drug Control (2003-2004) notes that the government of St. Lucia did not submit information related to public officials arrested, charged or convicted for corruption related to drug trafficking (OAS 2004). Information related specifically to police involvement in drug trafficking in Saint Lucia could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
References to specific programs of state protection available to persons targeted by drug traffickers could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Canada. August 2005. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. International Trade Canada. Trade Commissioner Service. "St. Lucia Fact Sheet." International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2005. March 2005. The Caribbean. "St. Lucia." United States Department of State. Organization of America States (OAS). 2004. Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CIDAD). Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM). Governmental Expert Group (GEG). "St. Lucia." Evaluation of Progress in Drug Control 2003-2004. United Kindom (UK). 22 November 2005. Foreign and Commonwealth Countries. "St. Lucia." Country Reports. Additional Sources Consulted
Internet sites, including: America's Accountability/Anti-Corruption (AAA) Project, Caribbean Net News, CaribPlanet, Central Intelligence Agency, Economic Commission for Latin America, Factiva, Latin America Network Information Center, Latinamerica Press, Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, Royal St. Lucia Police Force, The Caribbean Documentation Center, The Star Online, The St. Lucia Mirror, United States Department of State Country Reports 2004.
