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The Disrupters

The Jamaicans disrupting illicit gun supplies & violence, empowered by a Gov't-UN partnership

December 24^th, 2025

The Enforcers

Somewhere inside a labyrinth of buildings near Jamaica’s Kingston Harbour, the mission to detect illegal guns camouflaged as legitimate cargo is alive, urgent and never-ending. A trained eye and good instincts are on-the-job essentials.

Vigilant officers of the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) have seen it all: Gun parts scattered. In barrels. Inside appliances. In hidden compartments. Covered by metal items, food and lumber.

Ninety percent of illicit weapons smuggled into Jamaica are largely manufactured in Texas, Miami and Georgia in the United States, where lax gun laws drive illicit distribution. Illegal guns in the wrong hands have sparked a deadly trend:

80 percent of crimes in Jamaica are committed with small arms and light weapons.

At sea and air ports, the interception of illegal guns helps ‘separate the proverbial key from the ignition’.

Tauna Shay Murray, Image Analyst, Jamaica Customs Agency and colleague. (UNDP/Anorak Ltd photo).

Locating the Guns

“Some of the deep concealment methods that we see says to us that, hey, we have a real problem and that we have to equip the team as best as possible so they can identify these anomalies,” says JCA Image analyst, Tauna Shay Murray.

JCA and Jamaica Constabulary Force teams are equipped today more than ever; up to date with world leading detection methods, software and insider information on new concealment tricks - following training workshops and technology donations under a novel partnership uniting key arms of Government supported by the United Nations’ (UN) joint SALIENT programme. The Ministry of National Security, and the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information lead the government’s efforts while UNDP serves as lead UN implementation agency partnering with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

JCA officers confirm training has bolstered detection capacities. "SALIENT training was one of the better trainings for me as an image analyst, says Tauna Shay Murray. It's helped me to more accurately identify more complex images, helped us to identify through scanning, the different firearms, components and ammunition, she reports.

JCA saw a 70% increase in overall detections between 2022 and 2025, which Murray attributes to SALIENT training.

“This marks a very significant milestone here at the agency at a time when we transitioned our scanning program to a 100% Jamaica customs officers-led initiative. We have definitely seen the difference.”

The number of guns seized is also on the rise – by 21% in a one-year period, moving from 294 in 2024 to 356 in 2025.

With gun seizures up, murder rate is declining, moving from a high of 62 per 100 000 in 2009 to the current 24 per 100 000 in December 2025, thanks to Government’s Plan SECURE Jamaica.

From undisclosed locations on Kingston Harbour, first class digital scanners unveil what the naked eye cannot see, and conventional searches target anomalies only obvious to a trained eye.

Murray and team are acutely aware of their role in disrupting the supply of guns to illicit street connections. “I believe in country above self in detecting illicit trafficking at the ports. I come to work daily with that mantra. I speak this every day to my team members to ensure that they have that at the forefront of their mind,” she says.

Team JCA, a critical node in the mission to advance peace and safety in Jamaica. (UNDP/Anorak Ltd photo).

The Policymakers

Hands-on efforts to bolster capacities on the frontlines are complemented by a robust regulatory policy component aimed at disrupting the supply of illegal guns and reducing violence in schools and communities.

As one of three Chief Technical Directors at the Ministry of National Security, Shawna Trowers helped shape the project’s policy, legal and regulatory interventions including development of a National Small Arms Control Strategy and proposals to strengthen Jamaica's Firearms Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation Act 2022. Trowers says SALIENT recommendations focused on global standards, transparency, data and tracking of illicit guns – ensuring alignment with international instruments like CIFTA and the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms.

A National Small Arms Control Strategy aims to improve regulation, marking, tracing, and accountability of firearms and ammunition.

SALIENT also strengthened gun control regulations which complemented the frontline capacity building work. Trowers says school firearm management and response protocols were developed to prevent weapons entering schools and two Violence Audits were conducted in the high-risk communities of Denham Town in Kingston and Norwood in Montego Bay to inform future programmes and policies.

The SALIENT approach is different because it comprehensively targets policy, demand and supply issues. - Shawna Trowers, Ministry of National Security

“Who is the individual that demands the guns? Why do they demand it? It's one thing to know that a place is violent. It's another thing to understand the violence,” she explains.

Shawna Trowers, Chief Technical Director, Ministry of National Security, Jamaica is a result sbased policy development specialist with 22 years cross cutting international finance and development experience. (UNDP/ Anorak Ltd)

The Peer Influencers

Sarah Reid of Kingston High School lives in a community where conflicts can turn ugly, quickly. Taking their social cues from community life, student aggressions often spill over into school life. A standout memory of this inclination to violence occurred at eight years old. “At that time, I would hit her (when she bullied me), and she would hit me back”.

She’s different since life-skills and social and emotional learning programmes conducted by UNESCO under SALIENT. “At the age I am and what I learned from the programme, I would now tell her: ‘I do not feel comfortable with you hitting me. I do not feel like we are friends in this situation. It feels like you're bullying me’ ,” says Sarah with a shy smile.

Fellow student Nathaneil West’s earlier years in the volatile Rockfort community in east Kingston were just as challenging. In a flashback, he recalls the moment he snapped after merciless bullying. “One day, my cup was overfilled, and I burst. We started to fight, and I took out my pen, and stabbed him in his arm.

The SALIENT programme helped me control my anger. Now, when I’m angry, I'll clench my fist and count to 10,” he says.

Young people like Sarah and Nathaneil underscore the need for anti-violence programmes that tackle the social acceptance of violence among youth. One in three children and youth in Jamaica experience physical and emotional violence by age 18 - UNICEF Jamaica Violence Against Children & Youth Survey 2023

As different strands of the response network converge to play their part – Enforcers, Policymakers, Educators and Peer Influencers – the final result is likely to have greater impact. (UNDP/Anorak Ltd Photo)

Shauna Trowers of the Ministry of National Security says challenging the social acceptance of violence requires a case management methodology. In a pilot intervention targeting 43 vulnerable and at-risk schools like Kingston High, SALIENT partnered with the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information to provide technical advice, curricula and instructors.

At the end of the intervention, 138 educators and 71 youth now have the capacity to manage their emotions and resolve conflict.

Challenging the social acceptance of violence requires a case management methodology - Shauna Trowers of the Ministry of National Security. (UNDP/Anorak Ltd. photo)

The Educator

“I’ve seen a reduction in fights and conflicts since the SALIENT programme”, reports Jermaine Lutin, Principal Kingston High School. Three to four fights per day are now down to two squabbles in two weeks; extortions are eliminated, community acceptance growing and transformation, palpable. Participating students excel academically, participate more in class and display more emotional intelligence, Lutin observes. They are now regarded as the school’s peace ambassadors, willing to intercept and prevent violence at school.

“The SALIENT intervention is a game changer. When we see the transformation and (positive) influence on (each) other, we know that this programme was the best thing to do. - Jermaine Lutin, Kingston High Principal

Nathaneil, now one of his model students says,

“my mother and father are seeing it's a new me because I've changed in a lot of ways.

“My mother says I have grown a lot” says Sarah. “She says I’m more mature and know how to handle my issues".

She's very proud of the path that I'm taking now because it's not a dark path anymore”.

Trowers draws inspiration from real life stories like Sarah’s and Natahaniel’s. “What motivates me every day is that crime and violence is a real issue on a personal level; it's not only about the numbers. These are people. These are people’s lives. These are children. They're women. They're fathers. There's community. For Trowers the numbers are useful but it’s the people that really matter. “We have to be deliberate in providing anti-violence and strategies that will disrupt the proliferation of guns, (bearing our people in mind)”.

In the final equation, Partnerships matter – a SALIENT mantra. “If we're going to get it right, everybody has to have all hands-on deck,” she says.

In the final equation, Partnerships matter – a SALIENT mantra. “If we're going to get it right, everybody has to have all hands-on deck” - Shawna Trowers. (UNDP/Anorak Ltd Photos)

Footnotes

SALIENT is a joint United Nations project with lead UN implementation by the UNDP Multi Country Office in Jamaica. Other UN partners are UNODC, UNODA, UNLIREC, UNESCO. Lead Government implementation by Ministry of National Security and Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information; project manager, Jamaro Marville; text, Gillian Scott, UNDP Communications Analyst; Photos, Anorak Ltd for UNDP MCO in Jamaica.