The Customs Department is the Anguilla Government’s leading revenue earner. This year it was tasked with raising eighty-five million Eastern Caribbean dollars – as its share – towards financing the public services, while its own allotted operational budget was four million.
However, in order for the Department to maintain or exceed that level of revenue, there is a need for Government to meet certain necessary demands to enable the customs service to function at its fullest. One of those needs has now been met – the creation of a K9 Unit comprising two highly-trained dogs and, according to the supplier, Mr. Paris Nicholson, of KOPS Security Inc., a third dog is to be donated by his company later on.
Speaking at the commissioning of the K9 Unit on Friday, September 30, the insightful Comptroller of Customs, Mr. Travis Carty, said: “Over the years the Custom Department’s fight against illicit drugs and firearms has always been a challenging one. Now, with the inclusion of the K9 Unit, I am confident that this fight will be minimised – if not totally eradicated at some of our ports of entry. The deterring factor that the canines will bring to our ports of entry will be second to none.” He said during this year customs officers had been able to discover a number of imports of illicit or controlled drugs and now, with the K9 Unit, “the methods of detection will be drastically improved and increased.” He stressed that such a Unit would assist in providing the Anguillian community with the security its citizens deserved. He observed “that the lack of funding poses a threat to national security” and he called on the Government to do something about that matter.
Mr. Carty said he and the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Paul Morrison, “have some great plans” for the security of Anguilla and the protection of its people. It is understood that the K9 Unit will assist with the work of the Police as well as that of the Immigration Department.
Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, commended the Comptroller of Customs for informing the Government about the kind of resources his Department needed and making the case for more money. “I would like to say to him that we understand the importance of the Customs Department and the need to have it as efficient as possible,” he commented. “This addition of the K9 Unit to the Customs Department, and the Police Department, is definitely a critical step in being able to employ our resources in a much more effective way. I want us to move towards more collaboration between the various departments [including Immigration] that are involved in border control, and to ensure that Anguilla is safe and secure.”
Mr. Banks was pleased with the presentation made earlier by Mr. Paris Nicholson of KOPS Security Inc. that his company was not just interested in establishing the K9 Unit, but to have it maintained for the purpose of the investment. He observed that while it was the first time that the Customs Department had such a Unit, there were other private sector companies offering a similar service for the security of the island.
Mr. Nicholson said in part: “We, in KOPS Security Inc., are originally from the US Virgin Islands and Tortola, and we also house a K9 facility in St. Thomas. We train a lot of dogs at our facility in Florida for law enforcement in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and we also train dogs for the Caribbean, but we have a certain love for the Caribbean because we are from the Caribbean…We know that in the Caribbean we don’t have the support of other law enforcement agencies that have K9 Units. My wife and I came up with a programme about twelve years ago whereby we will not just offer to sell a dog to persons from the Caribbean, but we will also be interested in maintaining their security programme. This makes it easier and more affordable for them to come to us, get the training and the dogs, go back home with them and still receive continuous maintenance training. This is in addition to the dog food, heartworm prevention, the vitamins and plus a donated dog.”
Mr. Nicholas added: “The Anguilla Customs Department has two fantastic dogs (male and female). We are going to be in Anguilla every six to eight weeks conducting training so that the investment the Anguilla Government has made will be maintained. In addition, we will be providing a donated dog to add to the deterrence factor. The time it takes for a dog to search an area, like this room, and find contraband, will only be a couple of minutes compared with ten customs officers who will take an hour. Thus, with the use of the dogs, customs officers can be deployed in other areas of service.”
The commissioning of the K9 Unit included a demonstration of the dogs.
