Reps. Bell, Cherfilus McCormick Introduce CAST Act to Curb U.S. Caribbean Firearms Trafficking

Washington, D.C.- U.S. Representatives Wesley Bell (D-Mo.) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) introduced the Caribbean Anti-Smuggling of Trafficked Arms (CAST) Act, legislation that would help curb illicit arms trafficking from the United States to the Caribbean by requiring the Department of Defense (DOD) to report on expanding the mandate of Joint Interagency Taskforce South (JIATF-South) to include combatting illicit firearms trafficking.

"As a former prosecutor, I've seen how illegal guns can devastate neighborhoods and fuel violence," said Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Mo.). "Too many of those weapons are being trafficked out of the U.S. and into the hands of gangs in the Caribbean. This bill strengthens our ability to stop that flow at the source-so fewer families, whether in St. Louis or Port-au-Prince, have to live in fear."

"Weapons trafficking by way of the United States is a major contributor to crime in the Caribbean and Haiti's growing gang crisis, driving the ongoing instability that plagues the country," said Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.). "All potential options must be on the table to effectively curtail the flow of arms. Our nation's national security depends on it."

JIATF-South's mandate is to conduct detection and monitoring (D&M) operations to curtail drug trafficking and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) in the Caribbean region. The CAST Act will require the Department of Defense to evaluate the potential expansion of JIATF-South's mission to include combating the illegal trafficking of firearms from the United States to the Caribbean.

Illicit arms trafficking from the United States to the Caribbean is a regional and national security threat. While Caribbean countries do not manufacture firearms or ammunition, nor do they import either on a large scale, they account for half of the world's top ten highest national murder rates.

Last Congress, Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick led the release of a new reportfrom the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) that examines the role of U.S. firearms in Caribbean arms trafficking. The report found that nearly three-quarters of firearms recovered from the Caribbean and traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) could be sourced back to the United States, with many originating from U.S. retail sales.

The full text of the bill can be found here.

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