STAFFING levels at police and Customs are to be reviewed to ensure that the Bailiwick can enforce drug trafficking laws. The States will be asked at the end of this month to amend local laws to ensure that enforcement powers in the islands are as robust as the UK’s.

The proposals could even see the island appoint a regulator or supervisor for anti-money laundering to ensure that local business complies with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force.

Police and Customs will manage the implications of the legal changes by prioritising operations.

But the Home Department has expressed concern that the States has approved several reports in the last 18 months amending the island’s drug-trafficking and financial-crime legislation.

It has asked the chief officers of police and Customs to undertake a full review of staffing to ensure that these laws can be enforced ‘robustly and consistently in line with international standards’.

‘While the individual reports may not have significant resource implications, the cumulative effect on the resources of the police and Customs is of increasing concern,’ said Home minister Geoff Mahy.

The review findings will be presented to the States as soon as is practicable.

‘We undertake to ensure that any request for additional resources is proportionate to the need to protect the island’s international reputation and ensure that the Bailiwick continues to be an attractive place for the types of business the islands are seeking to encourage,’ he added.