Jamaica plans to deploy drones amid $26bn illicit trade losses

The Jamaica Customs Agency plans to set up a drone surveillance unit to patrol the ports and coastline of the nation as Jamaica faces an estimated loss of $26 billion annually in tax and excise revenues due to illicit trade.

Acting Commissioner of Customs, Kirk Benjamin mentioned the drone unit to be a part of a broader modernisation drive. He said in the forum that they are using advanced technology such as non-intrusive inspection, canine units and data analytics along with that several dogs have been used to detects and seize drugs and money. Kirk stated that they are moving aggressively in that area and with the establishment of the drone unit they will be able to patrol the area without risking anyone’s life.

This loss was made public at the second annual Anti-Illicit Trade Forum which was staged by the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) at the Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday, 22nd April. At this Forum the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Aubyn Hill made public the $26 billion figure in front of 80 representatives of the private and public sectors.

The illicit trade includes cigarettes, alcohol, clothing, footwear, fuel and pharmaceutical products which includes sexual enhancers and weight loss products.

The level of the cigarette problem alone has risen severely, as the number of illicit cigarette brands have jumped from a single digit number 7 to 17 in just one year in normal distribution channels.

Custom agencies of the US and UK are already using drone surveillance to curb the illicit trade in their respective countries. In the Caribbean region, Trinidad and Tobago’s Coast Guard has trialled drone units for offshore monitoring.

Benjamin also mentioned that JCA is paying attention to unregulated smaller ports which adds to the vulnerability of the island’s border control architecture.

The Chief Technical Director of the Financial Investigations Division (FID) Dennis Chung said that due to this illicit trade the GDP of Jamaica was affected badly. Getting into numbers, he mentioned that about $15.5 billion to $24.8 billion a year or 0.5 to 0.8 percent of GDP results in a drag due to the illicit trade.

It was revealed by Benjamin that in 2025, Jamaica Customs seized 10 million sticks of cigarettes with a street value more than $690 million. Many other seizures took place which included items like counterfeit footwear, counterfeit bags, clothing, alcohol, illegal firearms and ammunition.

Dennis Chug mentioned that the FID along with the JCA, the police, the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency and the Tax Authority of Jamaica were working together in order to ambush the profit centers of organized crime.