Jamaica Customs launches canine programme

The Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) has launched its new canine programme, equipped with 12 staff and eight specially trained dogs that can detect firearms, ammunition, narcotics, currency and other illegal items at Jamaica's ports.

An investment of approximately US$600,000 (approximately J$94 million) was made for the programme. CEO of the JCA and Commissioner of Customs, Dr Velma Ricketts Walker, said that the programme is already making an impact.

"Even in this early phase, the canine team has supported the detection of contraband, demonstrating their effectiveness in real operational settings," she said, speaking at the official opening of the kennel, located at the JCA's Newport West location on Monday. She noted that the canine team brings heightened detection capability, enhanced operational efficiency, and serves as a powerful deterrent against criminality, in a world where illicit trade is no longer predictable or straightforward.

"Technology alone cannot detect everything. There's need for instinct, there's a need for speed, there's need for precision, and that is what our canine team brings to this mission," she pointed out. Ricketts Walker said that the canine unit enhances Jamaica's ability to validate intelligence and sharpen targeted, routine and high-risk inspection, and increases detection with speed and accuracy.

The opening of the Newport West kennel represents the first phase of the programme, with the second phase to involve the opening of another facility in Montego Bay.