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Police says they have seized more than US$12 million in cocaine during several operations over the last weekend.

They said that on Saturday night, two men were arrested on Cat Island after they were found with US$7.8 million worth of cocaine in a joint operation involving US drug enforcement officers, DEA, and local officers.

Head of the Drug Enforcement Unit Superintendent Wendy Pearson said ‘while onboard a US helicopter on the southern tip of Cat Island, (we) observed two males in low-lying bushes along with a number or crocus sacks.

‘As a result of that, the officers landed where they proceeded into the low-lying bushes where they detained two males. They then checked those crocus sacks [and] discovered that each of those sacks contained a number of kilo packages of suspected cocaine.’

She said the men, ages 42 and 37, were arrested and taken to New Providence, where the drugs seized weighed 359 kilogrammes.

On Sunday, police, Customs officers and US officials, searched a container at a shipping port in Grand Bahama and found US$4.5 million worth of cocaine. No arrests were made in that matter. The drugs weighed 181 kilograms

US officials say cocaine seizures in the region have increased since 2021, noting that between 2017 and 2020, police seized 2,461.37 pounds of cocaine and between 2021 and 2024, the authorities seized 13,479.36 pounds of cocaine.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar has quietly carried out a minor re-shuffle of her cabinet less than six months after winning the April 28 general elections in Trinidad and Tobago.

While she did not remove any minister from her cabinet and has so far not made any public statement regarding the changes, the changes took effect from October 3, and were published in the official Gazette a day later.

As a result of the changes, the 73-year-old Persad Bissessar takes on several new responsibilities particularly in the areas of housing grants and self-help programmes. She has taken direct control of the Home Improvement Grants Policy, the Housing and Village Improvement Programme (HVIP), and the Government Aided Self-Help Housing Programme (GASHHP).

Persad Bissessar has also assumed direct responsibility for the portfolio of Constitutional Reform.

In the wake of an extraordinary year for Jamaican athletics, the nation is turning its spotlight to the masterminds behind the success: the coaches.

The Honourable Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Jamaica.

Marking National Coaches Day 2025, the Honourable Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, led the tributes, recognising the ‘immense contribution’ of coaches from every corner of the island.

‘Our coaches are the architects of our athletic dominance,’ Minister Grange stated in an official release.

‘Their discipline, dedication, and expertise not only produce world-class athletes but also instil invaluable life skills in our young people.’

The annual celebration, officially proclaimed by Governor-General Sir Patrick Linton Allen in 2022, comes at a high point following what the Minister described as a ‘remarkably successful 2025 Athletics season’ for both junior and senior teams.

The Jamaica Track and Field Coaches Association (JATAFCA) received special praise for its pivotal role in initiating the push for a national day to honour coaches.

The partnership between the Ministry and JATAFCA will culminate in a major awards ceremony on November 22, 2025.

The event, under the theme ‘Sustainability of Athletics Through the Development of Coaches,’ will celebrate the long and distinguished service of track and field coaches across five categories of excellence.

Echoing the Governor-General’s call, Minister Grange urged all citizens to participate in the day’s activities and to support coaches year-round.

‘The success of Jamaican sport, from the primary to the elite level, is a direct reflection of the calibre and commitment of its coaching professionals,’ the Minister affirmed, saluting all coaches, past and present.

The following is the CANANews Schedule for Monday, October 6, 2025.

PORT OF SPAIN – Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar has quietly carried out a minor re-shuffle of her cabinet less than six months after winning the April 28 general elections in Trinidad and Tobago.

GEORGETOWN – Guyana on Sunday evening commissioned the Chinese funded US$262 million dollar Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge, with President Irfaan Ali saying it signals the dawn of a new era of transformation.

ST. JOHN’S – Prime Minister Gaston Browne has confirmed that the government has acquired a majority stake in Blue Ocean, the company involved in critical dredging projects at the Deep Water Harbour and Crabbes Harbour.

KINGSTON – A four-year-old infant school pupil was among five people shot and killed after gunmen opened fire on a group of people playing games at a yard in Linstead, south east of here on Sunday night.

BELMOPAN – The Belize government has confirmed that an unexploded and exploded ordnance (UXO) found last week in San Jose Nuevo Palmar Village, northwest of here is a ‘training bomb’ and that the general area was once used as a training ground, ‘and therefore, similar findings may occur’.

Immigration advocates in the United States have condemned a proposed new Trump administration policy that targets undocumented Caribbean and other immigrant children.

The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an immigration advocacy organization that comprises over 200 immigrant groups in New York, said that the administration is ‘prepping a new enforcement operation targeted at unaccompanied children’.

NYIC president and chief executive officer, Murad Awawdeh, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that, ‘according to the leaked plans, children who are in court proceedings to prove their legal rights to stay in the US will be threatened with indefinite detention and immediate transfer to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency) on their 18th birthday-unless they drop their cases.

‘For those with parents in the US, the letter threatens the parents with arrest as well,’ Awawdeh said, adding more than 50,000 unaccompanied children have been reunified with families in New York in the past 10 years.

‘The NYIC advises any child or other person who receives a threat letter to contact an immigration attorney immediately. Children fleeing violence and seeking safety deserve compassion, stability, and fairness-not cruelty.

‘Each and every one of us, regardless of age or circumstance, also deserves a fair chance to present our case in a court of law. Instead of protecting these rights, the federal government is creating new pathways to deny safety to those who are most vulnerable.’

Awawdeh said this policy pressures children to abandon their legal claims and return to a life of fear and danger without ever receiving a fair hearing and that the chaos built into this policy will devastate families and communities, and it is targeted to hurt children.

He called on the Trump administration to ‘reverse course on this policy, respect and uphold due process.’

Awawdeh also called on New York State elected representatives to protect all young people in the state, pass the Access to Representation Act to guarantee that every immigrant-regardless of age-has legal representation in immigration court, ‘ensuring due process, protecting families, and reaffirming our country’s commitment to justice and freedom for all.’

Late last week, Caribbean immigrant advocacy groups warned of the ‘grave impact’ of the federal government shutdown on Caribbean and other immigrants.

The San Diego, California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) said it was ‘gravely concerned about the impact of the government shutdown on immigrant communities.

‘A shutdown of even a few days could delay asylum hearings, stall visa and work permit applications, and slow the already overwhelming immigration court backlog,’ HBA’s Founder and Executive Director Guerline Jozef told CMC.

Awawdeh said that court appearances for many Caribbean and other immigrants were rescheduled without notice. He said immigration courts across the country have responded to the shutdown ‘inconsistently, creating chaos in New York courthouses.

The chief executive officer of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), Laurette Adams Thomas, has described as a defining moment for children in Jamaica the proclamation signed by Governor-General, Sir Patrick Allen, designating October 7 as National Anti-Bullying Day.

‘This is more than just a symbolic day; it is a national call to action. Every act of bullying leaves scars-some visible, some invisible-that can last a lifetime. By dedicating a day each year to awareness and action, we are saying clearly and collectively that bullying has no place in our schools, in our communities, or in our society,’ Thomas said.

‘With the Governor-General’s proclamation, Jamaica now joins countries around the world that have enshrined national observances to combat bullying. This bold step reaffirms the nation’s collective responsibility to protect its children and signals to victims, perpetrators, and bystanders alike that bullying is unacceptable and must end,’ she added.

The CPFSA had made a formal request to the Head of State to sign the proclamation, a position that was endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Youth.

‘The proclamation is a milestone, but it is only the beginning. Through schools, parents, guidance counsellors, and community leaders, we will amplify the message across Jamaica that every child deserves to learn and grow in an environment free from fear. Together, we will build safer schools and stronger communities,’ said Minister of Education and Youth, Dr Dana Morris Dixon.

She said that since 2022 the Ministry has engaged counselling psychologists and psychotherapists to provide counselling and mental health support to students, parents, and school staff free of charge to augment the in-school counselling services.

The CPFSA said the initiative is being advanced by the National Anti-Bullying Technical Working Group, a multi-agency task force comprising the Ministry, CPFSA, UNICEF, the National Secondary Students’ Council, the Early Childhood Commission, the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

In a statement it said that the move is part of efforts to address bullying as a matter of urgent national concern and that it signals Jamaica’s unified effort to tackle the pervasive issue in schools and communities while fostering kindness, empathy, and respect among citizens.

The CPFSA said that the National Anti-Bullying Day seeks to help reinforce Jamaica’s collective resolve to confront bullying in all its forms and to protect the dignity and well-being of children and young people.

It said together with the various stakeholders, they are working to create a coordinated and sustained national response to bullying, ensuring that planned interventions are both far-reaching and impactful, the agency noted.

The Education Ministry, through CPFSA, will begin leading a slate of anti-bullying activities across Jamaica that will continue throughout the academic year.

Schools will host assemblies, workshops for principals, deans of disciplines, and teachers, and other creative showcases to encourage empathy and positive peer relationships.

A national art and essay competition is also being planned to allow students to directly engage in the movement.

A national media campaign will also be undertaken to spread the anti-bully message across television, radio, and digital platforms, with a special focus on social media.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says health authorities in Haiti are turning deaths caused by rabies-infected dogs into a public health awakening with the support of the UN’s health agency in the region.

PAHO said that last July, in the remote locality of Butête, in southern Haiti, nine-year-old Jonas (not his real name) lost his life to rabies.

When a stray dog bit the boy on the leg, the wound seemed minor. Like many families living far from any health facilities, his mother was unaware that immediate care was critical.

Within a week, the child began to feel weak and refused to eat. By the time he reached the nearest hospital, he had started showing the unmistakable symptoms of the rabies virus, including excruciating muscle spasms and hydrophobia, the fear of water.

PAHO said that not long after, Jonas died surrounded by his family.

The UN health agency said that the child is the most recent victim of this deadly, but wholly preventable disease that has already claimed four lives this year in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country, which is dealing with a multitude of crises, including political, economic and political instability as well as acute poverty and lack of access to health services.

Data collected between 2022 and 2024 in Haiti shows the rabies virus continues to pose a serious threat to public health where more than 8,000 suspected cases in dogs were investigated.

PAHO said of these, over 1,100 cases were considered probable and 46 were confirmed in a laboratory.

It said that during the same period, there were 24 suspected human cases probably caused by a dog bite, with eight confirmed deaths and that as soon as Jonas was admitted to the hospital, the Ministry of Public Health’s National Surveillance Network was alerted.

Supported by PAHO, a part of the World Health Organization (WHO), this nationwide network of field staff and resources, including locally-based epidemiology assistants and ‘labo-moto) health workers who visit communities on motorbikes, swiftly swung into action.

A response team was deployed to Butête to confirm that no one else in the community had been exposed to rabies.

The boy’s family was closely monitored and received post exposure care. The team also inspected the area where the dog and her puppies had died.

The investigation recommended organising a dog vaccination campaign, strengthening surveillance, and improving access to human rabies vaccines for post-exposure treatment.

A response team was deployed to Butête to confirm that no one else in the community had been exposed to rabies.

PAHO said the boy’s family was closely monitored and received post exposure care. The team also inspected the area where the dog and her puppies had died.

The investigation recommended organising a dog vaccination campaign, strengthening surveillance, and improving access to human rabies vaccines for post-exposure treatment.

To curb the spread of rabies in Haiti, a canine vaccination campaign was launched in August with the goal of vaccinating around 140,000 dogs, including stray and community animals, while also raising public awareness on prevention.

Ahead of this, training was provided to four departmental coordinators, seventeen communal coordinators, and more than 480 veterinary auxiliary agents, who were later deployed in 240 teams across priority areas in the four departments of Artibonite, Centre, Nord-Est, and Nord-Ouest.

A key innovation was the use of a mobile app to register vaccinated dogs, allowing real-time data collection, coverage monitoring, and improved data quality.

‘By vaccinating dogs on a large scale, we directly protect human communities – especially children. It’s a simple but vital action that saves lives,’ said Dr. Oscar Barreneche, the PAHO/WHO representative in Haiti, adding ‘rabies is lethal, but 100 per cent preventable’.

Achieving an estimated 80 per cent vaccination coverage among the target dog population is expected to significantly reduce rabies virus circulation in dogs.

The campaign also aims to heighten awareness of rabies prevention and promote appropriate responses to bites from suspected rabid animals.

‘Despite the challenges and limitations posed by the security situation and the overall instability in the country, we consider this vaccination campaign a significant success,’ said Dr Haïm Joseph Corvil, Protection Unit Coordinator at Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development.

PAHO said rabies remains one of the world’s deadliest zoonotic diseases, infections which can be transmitted from animals to humans.

Globally, it causes an estimated 59,000 deaths annually, 40 per cent of which are children.

Across the Americas, a 98 per cent reduction in cases of human rabies transmitted by dogs has been achieved, dropping from 300 cases in 1983 to just 10 cases reported over the past year, according to PAHO.

The St. Kitts and Nevis government has welcomed the decision by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines based Lynch Caribbean Brokers Ltd. To include the twin island Federation in the Regional Economical Agri-Insurance Programme (REAP).

The insurance programme was announced during the recently concluded 19th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA 2025), held here and Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister, Samal Duggins, said that the insurance programme should be viewed as a vital pillar for national resilience and regional innovation.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister, Samal Duggins, (right) and Lynch Caribbean Brokers managing director, Damian Bowen (left) explaining the REAP project.

‘Agriculture and fisheries remain at the heart of our nation’s food security, livelihoods, and economic resilience. Yet, farmers and fishers are increasingly vulnerable to risks beyond their control-climate change, unpredictable weather patterns, natural disasters, pests, and market volatility’ he added.

Under the REAP project, local farmers and fishers are expected to benefit from regional insurance programme aimed at reducing vulnerability to natural disasters, market volatility, and the growing impacts of climate change.

REAP, developed by Lynch Caribbean Brokers Ltd. of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, will soon be launched here in partnership with the government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources.

The initiative is a flexible multi-peril parametric insurance solution tailored specifically for the agriculture and fisheries sectors. Unlike traditional insurance models, which rely on individual loss assessments, REAP uses advanced index-based data and satellite monitoring to trigger payouts when pre-defined thresholds are met or surpassed.

Coverage spans crops, livestock, and fisheries, providing a comprehensive safety net for producers across the nation.

Under the programme, the St. Kitts and Nevis government will pay the premium on behalf of registered farmers and fishers. Constant remote monitoring of insured locations ensures rapid response and once a payout index is triggered, beneficiaries are notified within two to three weeks, and payments are calculated and distributed directly per policy.

St. Kitts and Nevis is among nine Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries that have signed onto the programme. St. Lucia officially signed on to the initiative and launched REAP in July 2025.

Lynch Caribbean Brokers managing director, Damian Bowen said that the programme’s design was shaped by extensive national consultation, adding that ‘REAP’s development was the result of careful collaboration with key stakeholders during the first quarter of 2025. ‘Together with experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and members of the farming and fishing communities, we created a model tailored to real needs rather than abstract assumptions.’

In a pre-rollout statement, Lynch Caribbean Brokers Ltd noted, ‘REAP is not a product on a shelf, it is an agri-insurance value chain in motion, designed in collaboration with experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and the farming and fishing communities. It integrates technology, local knowledge, and regional cooperation to create a transparent, practical, and sustainable solution for agricultural resilience.’

Beyond financial coverage, REAP is expected to introduce livelihood protection, a national enrolment campaign, public education seminars, and digital dashboards that improve transparency and data-driven decision-making across the sector.

Duggins said that the government is committed to strengthening resilience across the agriculture and fisheries sectors.

‘It is in this context that the Ministry strongly supports the establishment and expansion of insurance mechanisms tailored specifically for our farmers and fishers. These tools are not luxuries-they are necessities that provide a safety net, ensuring that the men and women who dedicate their lives to feeding our people can recover quickly after shocks and continue their work without being pushed into financial hardship’, he added.

The acting Commissioner of Prisons, Hayden Forde, Monday said that drone drop offs were contributing significantly to contraband reaching the prison walls, and is also blaming some prison officials for being part of the criminal activities.

Forde, speaking on a television programme here, said the use of the devises had become a major challenge even as the authourities attempt to intercept them and that something needs to be done urgently.

‘The greatest challenge that we face on a daily basis would be drone flights. Drone flights take place every single day.and because there is that open air we are unable to properly treat with those drone drops.

‘So, the criminal realise that that’s a weak spot and they are actually using that to their advantage. Despite that we have officers who are intercepting some of those drops (and) they have been able to curtail some of th contraband they are trying to get into our prison system, but the vast majority, obviously based on the flight patterns.we have not been able to intercept.

The Acting Prison Commissioner said that between April and October this year, there have been more than 600 drone drops with the most popuular spot being at the Maximum Security Prison, at Arouca, east of here.

‘From April 4, 2025 to October 4, we have had at least 626 sighting of drones coming into our air space. The vast majority of those flights are at the Maximum Security Prison because our greatest population condensed at the Maximum Security Prison.

‘The greatest amount of remanded inmates are at the Maximum Security Prison. We have had flights at Port of Spain Prison.but the vast majority have been at the Maximum Security Prison’.

Forde told television viewers that the Prison Service is lacking the technology and equipment to deal with the issue and that some of his officers are collecting the illegal items and that these rogue officers can only be described as ‘gang members’ and must be weeded out of the service.

‘we have several rogue officers who are operating in our system. Despite efforts to weed them out, they are still in our system,’ he said, adding ‘they are complicit and I am not going to hide that at all and we have individuals at the Maximum Security Prison who it is reported that if a package is dropped in the yard will allow persons to go and retrieve it.

‘ We have had those reports. So officers are involved in that aspect of the trafficking and as far as I am concerned they are gang members, they are part of a criminal network,’ Forde said, warning of the consequences to society and the prison service as a result of such activities.

Last Friday, police and prison officers arrested two people, including a 13 year-old boy during a joint operation.

The police said that the two tried to fly a drone laden with marijuana, cigarettes, wrapping paper and cellphones into the Maximum Security Prison.

Forde said that talks are ongoing with Minister of Homeland Security, Roger Alexander, on what measures could be taken to counteract drone smuggling.

‘What is really needed are anti-drone devices that are in a fixed place, but can cover a certain radius and any drone which comes into that place, the device can detect it, capture it, defuse it, it can send it back to the operator where th police can follow the drone and make an arrest if police.

So having the net is one thing, which is good, but it requires a certain level of dexterity from the pilot, but if you have something fixed that means you can deal with drones at any time of the day.’

Forde said that he is particularly concerned about the age of the suspect held in the most recent incident, noting that it was an example of criminals recruiting and including younger persons in their activities.

‘It seems as though they (criminals) are training people to get involved in criminal activities and continue on that line. That is alarming to us as a society, because basically what they’re doing is succession planning, so it means that the criminal elements are ensuring that crime is not abated in this country and young people whose minds are bent easily, they are using these people and recruiting them to continue their nefarious activities.’

A four-year-old infant school pupil was among five people shot and killed after gunmen opened fire on a group of people playing games at a yard in Linstead, south east of here on Sunday night.

Police said that nine people were shot and that Shannon Gordon, a student of Rosemount Primary and Infant School, was among those killed.

‘Nine persons were shot, five persons have so far been confirmed dead. We are here trying to put together the pieces to determine what really triggered such an awful situation. The community of Linstead has been doing pretty well since this year,’ Assistant Commissioner of Police Christopher Phillips, told reporters.

The police say that several men, some reportedly wearing police-style vests, descended on the premises along Commodore main road, shouting ‘police,’ before opening fire on those in the yard.

The police have named the others killed as Mario Sullivan, 42, Jushane Edwards, 19, Iysha Washington, 39, a vendor, and 22-year-old security guard Famous Amos.

.Phillips said that the location where the shootings took place, is not unfamiliar to police, having been visited on multiple occasions in the past due to ‘long-standing issues and challenges’.

The police are working on the theory that last night’s incident might be a continuation of gang conflict, ‘which comes as a surprise to us because this area has been quiet for a while,’ said ACP Phillips, adding ‘unfortunately among the numbers we have a four-year-old who was brutally killed. the community is in shock.’

‘The men parading as law enforcement officers pose a worrying sign,’ said Phillips, adding ‘we have a team of top investigators working to put the pieces together to determine what triggered such an awful incident’.

Jamaica has recorded 522 murders for the period January to October 4, as compared with 883 for the same period, according to figures released by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

The figures show a 40.9 per cent decline in murders in the country.