The Cocaine trade has been blamed for the increase in homicide in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Well, that’s the belief of that country’s Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.

Homicide rates in the twin island republic have escalated over the past few years, coupled with the fact that it has been fingered as a key drug transit zone by the United States of America.

On December 18^th, Gonzalves, who is also the country’s national security minister said on WEFM that people in his country continue to kill each other for no reason.

“It’s a minority, a small group, and it’s intertwined; a lot of it is intertwined with the cocaine trade, and other spin-offs with retaliation, and everything else.”

According to suggestions from experts, about 30 to 35 metric tons of cocaine pass through the US every year through the Caribbean Sea. Media reports also indicate that in October of 2022, a vessel held in St. Kitts with cocaine and marijuana was en route from St. Vincent on its way to Tortola.

And according to the St Vincent Times “in 2015, police seized over $1 million worth of cocaine during an operation at Wallilabou, on the northwestern coast of the island”.