Prime Minister Gaston Browne is urging young people to reject the so-called “bad-man” culture, warning that drug trafficking and violent crime most often end in prison, poverty or death.

He said music and popular culture sometimes glamorise guns, criminal status and fast money among people from their late teens into their early thirties.

Browne argued that this attraction persists even as the country expands access to secondary and university education and records strong demand for labour.

The Government receives hundreds of work-permit applications each week, he said, particularly for construction jobs. Contractors maintain that the available local labour pool is exhausted, while some unemployed residents are unwilling to accept conventional work and instead seek quick income.

The Prime Minister said every young person he had known to become involved in drug trafficking ultimately suffered severe consequences. Some were killed, some imprisoned and others ended their lives without the wealth they once displayed.

He called for families, media and community leaders to reinforce the message that crime does not provide a sustainable path to success.