Suriname signed an agreement on Wednesday to join a US electronic system called eTrace used to trace illicit arms and ammunition, officials said.
The memorandum of understanding with the United States is part Suriname's ongoing effort to combat firearms trafficking under a December 2007 joint CARICOM-US initiative, Justice and Police minister Chan Santokhi said.
"Through the digital network we will able to trace weapons used in crime, do research in ballistics, furnish proof, solve gun crime and trace the import and identify gangs," he said.
Suriname doesn't produce weapons, but firearms and ammunition enter the country through the borders and by legal means, the minister said.
Santokhi added the prosecution office will start implementing the memorandum of understanding next week. Authorities will be trained by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to use the program.
"The MOU (memorandum of understanding) addresses the threat that is out there. We are just providing tools and assistance to Suriname," US ambassador Liza Bobbie Hughes-Schreibes told AFP.
The eTrace signing comes as Caricom security ministers met with US government officials for a technical security meeting in capital Paramaribo in preparation for higher level meetings in Washington later this year.
The Caricom-US meeting will be followed by a two-day minister's council responsible for national security and law enforcement to develop joint security strategies for the region.
President Barack Obama has asked Congress for 45 million dollars in ind for a multiyear, multi-faceted Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
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