US Identified as Main Source of Caribbean's Illicit Arms Violence
Violence-related incidents are surging throughout the region, including armed gang recruitment of minors, hospital shootings, and gang warfare—all directly tied to weapons proliferation, the report found.
The study titled "Pathway to Policy: Firearms Trafficking and Public Health in the Caribbean" was jointly published December 2 by the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security, the Caribbean Public Health Agency, and the Small Arms Survey.
Identifying the United States as a critical source of illegal weaponry, the report revealed that numerous illegal firearms confiscated by Caribbean law enforcement trace back to U.S. gun retailers, illicit arms dealers, and port transportation networks.
At least 27 of 29 documented illegal firearms shipments intercepted at ports in the Bahamas, Guyana, and other Caribbean nations between 2017 and early 2025 originated from the United States, the report stated, noting maritime shipping as the primary trafficking method from the U.S. to the Caribbean.
Particularly alarming are trafficking operations in Florida and Georgia, which accounted for nearly 70 percent of seized firearms across six Caribbean countries, including the Bahamas and Jamaica, according to the findings.
The report concluded there is increasingly robust evidence demonstrating "that traffickers in the United States are indeed the predominant source of illicit firearms in most of the region."
Researchers urged the United States to implement stricter gun export oversight and enhanced port inspection protocols to combat worsening transnational arms smuggling networks.
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