UK expert: Int’l terrorist groups could target Ja’s unattached youths
LONDON-BASED ANTITERRORIST expert Shaun McLeary has warned of possible links between organised crime in Jamaica and wellfinanced international terrorist groups seeking to lure unattached youths.
“Jamaica has nearly 300 violent gangs, many disadvantaged men. Trinidad and Tobago has already witnessed one attempted coup by Jihadis,” said McLeary at a two-day seminar staged by the Financial Investigations Division (FID) last week, dubbed ‘Taking the profit out of crime. What does it take?’
“The militants who are not killed in Iraq and Syria are going to come home at some stage if they don’t go to another theatre. So what threat will they pose?”
“Any country with high levels of violence, large numbers of disadvantaged, unemployed youths, a narrative of oppression, grievances, that is seen by the Islamic state as a prime breeding ground (could be targeted),” said McLeary, as he pointed to possible influences of Jamaican-born Muslim Cleric Sheikh Abdulla al-Faisal, who is facing extradition to the United States. He charged that through investigations alFaisal was found to be linked to a host of bomb plots in Europe and Africa.
“By using financial information we can identify what the threat is, how close they are to actually realising their aims and objectives, (and) the extent of their network,” said McLeary,
In the meantime, Assistant Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey told the seminar that local lawenforcement agencies plan to do more to track criminals through financial investigations.
“There are investigations that we collaborate with our stakeholders, we work in tandem with the FID and other agencies ... even with the remittance companies, (but) there is definitely room for improvement,” said Bailey.