PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Sept 21, CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) Monday said it participated in an international crime prevention initiative resulting in the identification and dismantling of numerous transnational criminal networks and the arrest of more than 490 people.
It said that “Operation ATLAS NEXUS” led to the identification and dismantling of dozens of transnational criminal networks in a coordinated international action bringing together law enforcement, customs and judicial authorities from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and other regions of the world.
Several CARICOM countries, namely Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago participated in the initiative that MPACS said “in terms of the volume of seizures and the number of countries involved, is the largest joint operation against organised crime carried out to date between both regions.”
The initiative was led by the Belgian Federal Police and was coordinated and conducted jointly by Operational Action 6.1 of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) and CARICOM IMPACS and facilitated by EL PACCTO 2.0, the European Union’s flagship cooperation programme with Latin America and the Caribbean on security and justice, which supported the coordination between the various actors involved on both sides of the Atlantic
The operation focused on identifying and disrupting polycriminal networks and high-value targets, seize criminal assets and initiate further investigations, across five priority criminal markets: drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, document fraud, firearms trafficking and environmental crime.
IMPACS said that its most significant outcome lies not only in the volume of what was seized – 156,9 tonnes, but in the number of criminal structures identified and dismantled.
“The more than 490 arrests correspond to the disruption of multiple networks whose routes connect both regions. Faced with organisations operating on an international scale, intercepting shipments is not enough: the aim is to dismantle the structures that make them possible and to deprive them of the resources that sustain them.”
It said among the actions carried out, particular note should be taken of the identification and dismantling of the first cocaine processing laboratory detected in Ireland, as well as two new illegal gold mining sites in French Guiana.
Seizures include 37,6 tonnes of cocaine, 118,6 tonnes of cannabis, 201 firearms, 3131 units of ammunition and explosives, 803 wild animals and livestock, US$135,000 in cash and cryptocurrencies, 0.83 kg of gold, 169 properties, 464 pieces of jewellery, 468 fraudulent documents and one1 vehicle.
IMPACS said 37 INTERPOL notices were issued during the operation, 17 of them were red.
“More than 8,680 police officers and justice authorities took part in the various national operational actions to monitor 110 aircraft, 28 vessels, 415 vehicles and 271 containers at 28 designated checkpoints in ports, airports and on roads. A total of 595 search warrants were executed” IMPACS said adding that as a result, new modi operandi and routes have been identified.
“The coordination between this wide range of actors proved decisive in connecting information from different jurisdictions and acting simultaneously against networks operating across several continents.”
CMC/a/h/ir/2026