Hilaire Speaks On Tourist Firearm Incident

Tourism Minister Dr. Ernest Hilaire has commented on reports regarding a cruise ship visitor who arrived in Saint Lucia with a firearm at the weekend. While explaining that he could not speak to all the details, the Minister told reporters at Monday’s regular pre-Cabinet press briefing that Saint Lucia was not the first port of call. “He had, from what I was told, the firearm in his sack, his shoulder bag,” Hilaire told reporters. He said the police dealt with the matter. ” In a sense, it showed that the systems work because he had been to two previous ports and it had not been discovered, but of course, it was discovered in Saint Lucia and the police, in keeping with the protocols, dealt with the matter,” the Castries South MP stated. “We want to make it very clear that there is no tolerance of persons carrying illegal firearms. In his case, he had a permit for it, but still, what he did was not in accordance with our laws,” Hilaire told reporters. Reports indicated that the firearm incident involved an American in his thirties. Well-informed sources told St. Lucia Times that the visitor had an expired permit for his...