US becomes major source of gun violence in Caribbean: report

MEXICO CITY -- The United States has become a major source of high-level firearm-related violence plaguing the Caribbean region, according to a recent report jointly released by multiple regional and international organizations.

The region's violence-related activities are on the rise, including the recruitment of children and adolescents into armed gangs, shootings in hospitals and gang violence, which are closely linked to firearm proliferation, said the report.

The "Pathway to Policy: Firearms Trafficking and Public Health in the Caribbean" was released by institutions including the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security, the Caribbean Public Health Agency and the Small Arms Survey on Dec 2.

Depicting the United States as an important source of illegal firearms in the region, the report indicated that in recent years, a large number of illegal weapons seized by law enforcement agencies in Caribbean countries are closely related to gun stores, illegal weapons traffickers and port transportation in the United States.

At least 27 of the 29 reported shipments related to illegal firearms seized at ports in the Bahamas, Guyana and other Caribbean countries from 2017 to early 2025 came from the United States, said the report, adding most trafficking from the United States to the Caribbean is accomplished via maritime shipping.

Of particular concern are traffickers in the US states of Florida and Georgia, which were the sources of nearly 70 percent of firearms seized in six Caribbean countries, including the Bahamas and Jamaica, the report showed.

There is increasingly strong evidence showing "that traffickers in the United States are indeed the predominant source of illicit firearms in most of the region," it concluded.

The report calls on the United States to take measures such as strengthening the supervision of gun exports and enhancing port inspection efforts to curb the deteriorating cross-border arms smuggling.