July 7, 2026 – Fort-de-France, Martinique – Global Affairs Canada

The list of countries that have endorsed the declaration as of July 3 is as follows:

Bahamas, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, CARICOM IMPACS, UNODC.

The declaration remains open to countries wishing to join it at a later date.

“We, partners working together against illicit trafficking in the Caribbean and across the Americas, gathered in Fort-de-France (Martinique), express our deep concern at the growing scale and the complexity of narcotrafficking, illicit trafficking in firearms and other criminal activities affecting our regions, and the violence generated.

“Criminal networks are adapting their methods, exploiting maritime and air routes, using inter-island trafficking patterns, infiltrating ports logistics chains and legal economic structures, and developing transnational operations across source, transit and destination countries. These networks diversify their activities, launder their proceeds, enable corruption, traffic firearms and ammunition, threaten our very livelihoods through crimes that affect the environment, recruit vulnerable people, in particular young people, to commit their crimes, and undermine public security, democratic governance, the rule of law and economic development.

“We recognize the increasingly transatlantic nature of trafficking routes, including links among the Caribbean, Latin America, West and Central Africa, Europe, and North America.

“We welcome the convening in Martinique of a Regional Security Conference, as part of the French Presidency of the G7, prepared through a series of high-level sectoral conferences bringing together national authorities, regional organizations, law enforcement agencies, judicial authorities, port and airport operators, and international partners.

“We are convinced that no country can address these challenges alone. We therefore affirm our determination to:

I. Dismantle transnational organized crime groups and their support networks involved in narcotrafficking and firearms trafficking, and relentlessly disrupt the illicit supply chain.

“We are committed to working together in a comprehensive and rights-based approach, in a manner that is consistent with international conventions, to fight drug trafficking and illicit trafficking of firearms, ammunition and explosives, which fuel violence and undermine the rule of law, economic development and democracy. To this end, we intend to strengthen our international cooperation among our law enforcement agencies, such as police, customs, and, as appropriate, among our judicial authorities, including through joint operations and investigations where possible, forensic cooperation, mutual legal assistance, and other effective channels for the transmission of information between competent authorities, as well as our development cooperation, with a view to dismantling trafficking networks as well as their financial, logistical and enabling structures, within existing domestic and international legal frameworks. We will further strengthen cooperation through the exchange of expertise and best practices on emerging trafficking routes, methodologies, and concealment techniques, helping partners to identify evolving threats and strengthen detection and interdiction capabilities, ensuring our collective response keeps pace with the evolving threat.

“Disrupting the financial structures and the money laundering activities of criminal networks is central to fighting organized crime. Therefore, we aim to reinforce financial investigations, asset tracing, and seizure, confiscation, and recovery of criminal property.

“We intend to adapt the “follow the money” approach to evolving financial technologies, including virtual assets, by enhancing capacities for tracing, freezing, seizing, confiscating, and recovering proceeds of crime, and by strengthening cooperation among financial intelligence units, supervisory authorities, international networks such as the Financial Action Task Force and its regional branches (GAFI LAT), and relevant private-sector actors.

“We will continue to promote an evidence-based, whole-of-government, and comprehensive approach that includes the reduction of both drug supply and drug demand. We will spare no effort to reduce demand and mitigate the adverse public health and social consequences of drug use, including through the capacity building of relevant stakeholders as well as the provision of socioeconomic opportunities with a particular focus on those especially vulnerable. We intend to therefore increase our efforts in primary prevention, treatment, and healthcare to reduce the demand.

II. Secure strategic spaces and disrupt illicit flows

“We reaffirm the importance of strengthening the resilience of ports, airports and logistics chains against criminal infiltration, including through costal protection, and facilitating operational cooperation to intercept illicit cargoes. We commit to working in close partnership with the private operators of ports, airports, shipping, and logistics chains to counter the threat collaboratively.

“To that end, we recognize that we need to reinforce control mechanisms in ports and airports, building on the best practices identified by G7 and international and regional partners, including initiatives aimed at strengthening cooperation among ports and transport hubs exposed to trafficking risks. We welcome the G7+ leaders’ initiative to create a ports network and wish to seek convergences with the Caribbean region.

“We also strive to develop, where appropriate, and implement existing bilateral, regional, or multilateral arrangements, enabling more effective maritime cooperation, including hot pursuit and visit agreements and procedures for rapid authorization and coordination.

III. Strengthen regional capacities and partnerships

“We underline our shared commitment to supporting regional and international organizations involved in the fight against transnational organized crime and narcotrafficking in the region, including the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Regional Security System, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, the Organization of American States, the International Criminal Police Organization INTERPOL, relevant EU-LAC cooperation mechanisms, and other competent frameworks.

“We reaffirm the central role of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, as well as the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, as the common legal framework for international cooperation, mutual legal assistance, extradition, confiscation, and technical assistance.

“Through regional efforts, we plan to continue to support law enforcement entities and relevant security forces to counter drug trafficking and organized crime in all their dimensions through regional training programs, centers of expertise, high-level seminars, specialized training, equipment, securing state-held weapons stockpiles, firearms tracing and joint or parallel investigations and operations.

“We commit to maintain this momentum through a follow-up Caribbean Security Conference to be organized with the firm support of international, regional, and G7 partners.

“Together, we call for a stronger, more coordinated, comprehensive, and more operational partnership rooted in an evidence-based approach and in the rule of law, to protect our societies, dismantle and bring to justice criminal networks, and secure strategic spaces, in order to fight transnational organized crime.”