KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Senate has approved the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency Order empowering the agency to investigate and prosecute a broader range of serious matters.
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Kamina Johnson Smith, who piloted the legislation, noted that the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) is an invaluable and effective tool in the fight against organised criminal activity in Jamaica.
She said the Order is designed to strengthen the agency’s investigative scope, further strengthening Jamaica’s security architecture and that it seeks to amend the first schedule of the MOCA Act to expand the pool of offences for which the agency may proceed against persons associated with or otherwise involved in organised criminal activity.
The pieces of legislation from which offences will be pulled include the Larceny Act 1942; Forgery Act 1942; Criminal Justice and Administration Act 2014; Road Traffic Act 2018; Firearms Prohibition Restriction and Regulation Act 2022; Betting Gaming and Lotteries Act 1966; Fisheries Act 2018; Praedial Larceny Prevention Act; and Common Law offences to include misconduct of public office, conspiracy, cheating the public revenue and inchoate offences.
Johnson Smith said that MOCA is the first agency of its kind in Jamaica, and “the value added to law enforcement by MOCA over the past decade speaks for itself”.
“Since January 2020 to present, MOCA has conducted approximately 98 targeted operations, resulting in a total of 85 persons being arrested, 84 of which were formally charged,” she told the Senate.
She said the Government will continue to review laws and fortify the legislative framework to ensure that they are best aligned with the needs of the security forces in the pursuit of the fight against crime and violence.