CARIBBEAN ROUND-UP
Grenada’s PM defends acceptance of 11 St Lucian prisoners
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP) — Grenada’s prime minister defended his decision to accept 11 prisoners from the nearby island of St Lucia, saying the move to a prison in his country was necessary to help prevent escapes.
In a taped address broadcast Thursday night, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell said the decision to accept the prisoners last month was one of the most difficult he had faced.
“I know that our prison services are in need of further development and improvement and I am also aware that we, too, suffer from some level of overcrowding,” Mitchell said.
Several dozen opposition supporters marched through streets in the Caribbean country last month criticising Mitchell for accepting the prisoners. They complained that prisons in the country of 90,000 inhabitants aren’t safe enough to take in dangerous prisoners from abroad.
St Lucia temporarily transferred the 11 prisoners to Grenada after the inmates bashed their way through their cell walls. They remain at Richmond Hill Prison in Grenada, and no firm date has been set for their return to St Lucia.
Police in Curacao arrest 10 alleged drug smugglers
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) — Police raided a makeshift factory where they said drug runners would swallow tiny packets of cocaine before boarding flights to Europe, police said.
Police arrested 10 men on Thursday in the workshop of an apartment complex in Curacao. Authorities had been searching for attackers who shot and injured top customs official Michael Thokaai on the Dutch island last week.
None of those arrested were considered suspects in the attack on Thokaai, a member of the Customs Department’s detective unit.
Police seized eight kilograms (17 pounds) of cocaine, and the 10 men were charged with cocaine possession.
The suspects were later released with a summons to appear in court at a later date. A shortage of jail space in Curacao has prompted authorities to release alleged drug smugglers until their court dates.
Authorities say drug couriers swallow “bolitas”, small plastic and rubber packages filled with cocaine, and then board flights from Curacao to Holland.
Gunmen attack police station, free 159 prisoners in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Heavily-armed gunmen stole a tractor, crashed through the wall of a provincial jail and freed 159 prisoners yesterday in a jailbreak that left at least one dead and a town in chaos, officials said.
After the jailbreak in the northern town of Gonaives, revellers set fire to the town courthouse and city hall, authorities said.
“For the moment, the situation is uncontrollable,” said Jacques Maurice, a spokesman for the office of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. “We are reinforcing the police to re-establish order, but we want to avoid hurting the civilian population.”
Of 221 prisoners in the jail, 159 escaped once the tractor opened a hole in the jail wall, said Clifford Larose, director of Haiti’s prison system. One prisoner was shot and killed inside the jail during the escape, he said. It was unclear who killed him.
The escapees included former army Capt Cenafis Castera and street activist Jean Tatoune, who were serving life sentences along with others for their role in the 1994 killing of about 15 people in the nearby shantytown of Raboteau, Maurice said.
A band of supporters loyal to detained political activist Amiot Metayer were behind the assault, Maurice said.
Authorities said police retreated from the town as the freed prisoners took to the streets. Metayer, a former supporter of Aristide who was arrested last month on arson charges, was seen parading through the town at the head of his armed band.
“Disorder has taken possession of the country,” said human rights advocate Jean-Claude Bajeux.
The band of gunmen struck before noon in the town some 100 kilometres (62 miles) northwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. As automatic gunfire rang out, people cleared the streets and shopkeepers closed their doors, the independent broadcaster Radio Galaxie reported.
Metayer’s supporters, who call themselves the Cannibal Army, have been demanding his release since his arrest on July 2, blocking traffic with flaming tire barricades and shooting into the air and at police patrols.
They set fire to the Customs House on July 8, partially damaging it.