BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (GIS) – Barbados will set up a Confiscation Unit in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as part of its commitment to ensure that all avenues for asset recovery, management and sharing are explored. This disclosure came from attorney general Dale Marshall, as he delivered the feature remarks recently at the opening of the two-day 2025 Annual General Meeting of the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for the Caribbean (ARIN-CARIB), at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Marshall told his audience:“This Unit will lead the country's efforts on implementing the range of powers found in the Proceeds and Instrumentalities of Crime Act, which we enacted in 2019. The details are still being finalised, but I have the imprimatur of the prime minister and our National Security Council to establish this Unit as an important part of our dealing with the criminal elements – taking the assets.”

During the address, the attorney-general underscored the importance of developing trust and sharing information among local and regional entities, stating that existing barriers must be torn down.

“One of our problems in the region is that we treat information like you treat the crown jewels – nobody wants to share with anyone else. Yet, on every occasion, we say crime is cross border; crime is extended now outside of our national territories,” the attorney-general continued.“If the criminals are moving, we have to make sure that the information that we have and that we can share moves with them, plain and simple. We can provide all of the sophisticated legal, administrative and institutional solutions, but if we don't get into the practice...of sharing communications between our law enforcement entities, we simply will be going nowhere.”

Marshall thanked ARIN-CARIB Network for leading the wave in the region for asset recovery and confiscation. Noting that the seizing of assets was a new area for the island, he pointed out, however, that Barbados has been making significant strides.

Deputy director of the Regional Security System, Atlee Rodney, said transnational organised crime, corruption and money laundering continued to erode good governance, weaken economies and undermine public trust.

“Criminals exploit borders, bureaucracies and loopholes, hiding illicit gains in webs of companies, accounts and investments – far removed from the communities that bear the cost. This is why the role of ARIN-CARIB is critical,” Rodney stated. He pointed out that through the adoption of a four-year strategic plan and sustainable funding model, ARIN-CARIB is building institutional capacity, enhancing ownership and strengthening technical competencies.

The deputy director noted that the work of ARIN-CARIB has gained global recognition and calls for local action.

“The Financial Action Task Force now requires countries to actively participate in Asset Recovery Interagency Networks. This elevates ARIN-CARIB from an operational tool to a corner of compliance and innovation. We are not just responding to crime – we are shaping legal and policy frameworks across the region,” he stressed.

Assistant director of projects at CARICOM IMPACS, Nadine Bushell, said that the organisation had observed a troubling acceleration in gang-related violence and organised criminal activity.

“The profits from these crimes are increasingly being used to fund the formation of criminal cells beyond our borders. The region's crime landscape is being shaped in part by organised crime, as evidenced by the widespread recovery of firearms and ammunition across member states. Moreover, the maritime domain has emerged as the preferred route for trafficking drugs, arms, ammunition, and also illegal migrants (...). Organised criminals are also evolving. They are leveraging with simple and sophisticated cyber-financial techniques to disguise illicit profits as legitimate commerce, evading detection by law enforcement,” Bushell surmised.

She emphasised the critical link between asset recovery, asset management and the long-term reduction of crime. She proffered the view that it is not enough to seize and recover assets, but officials must ensure that they are managed transparently and consistently across member states.

ARIN-CARIB is a network of law enforcement and judicial practitioners in the field of asset tracing, freezing, seizure and confiscation.

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