TNN NEWS SPECIAL REPORT
TNN News takes a closer look at Bermuda’s underworld — the hidden, violent side of the nightlife and gang activity — brought into sharp focus by the most recent fatal shootings.
We spoke to two individuals who choose not to be identified for obvious reasons recently got out of the underworld lifestyle because of the dangers such activities has brought to their families.
While much of the public remains unaware, there is a brutal cycle operating beneath the surface. Gang members frequently hold up drug dealers at gunpoint, stealing their drugs, money, and assets. In this world, calling the police is not an option — the activity is illegal from the start.
In a harsh reality, individuals arrested for gun-related crimes, even murder, are released back into the community while police await forensic evidence. These men, already known and labeled in the streets, often become targets themselves. Retaliation follows, and the result is predictable — they end up dead.
•Why hasn’t legislation changed?
Why are those arrested for gun or murder charges not kept in custody — not only to protect the public, but to protect their own lives? Currently, the law allows police to hold individuals for a maximum of 72 hours in most cases. For gun-related offenses, that extends to 14 days before court review, with a possible 14-day extension. But after that, they are either charged or released. Many of these released suspects are swiftly targeted and killed.
• A trail of unsolved murders
Bermuda still carries the weight of numerous unsolved murders: the two separate Ord Road shootings resulting in death, the Warwick Workman’s killing, the Friswell Hill killings, St.George’s and St.David’s shootings and many others. TNN has learned that a small group of individuals are considered prime suspects in multiple incidents. Authorities, bound by legal restrictions, cannot always disclose details that would alarm the public.
•Guns and drugs: the dangerous trade
Firearms are smuggled into Bermuda alongside narcotics — cocaine, marijuana, heroin, fentanyl and MDMA. On the black market, a gun with ammunition can sell for $10,000 to $15,000. The supply is steady, the stakes are high, and the cycle of violence continues.
• When is enough, enough?
Bermuda must face the reality of its gun violence epidemic. The question now is: when will the government, clergy, police, and everyday people unite to say, “Enough is enough”? And how do we take Bermuda back to the safe and peaceful island we know it can be?
The PLP government has been in power close to a quarter of a century—winning in 1998, a few years before the first sparks of Bermuda’s modern gun violence ignited. The Progressive Labor Party has spoken of “two Bermudas.” But the truth is harsher. There are three Bermudas:
1. The haves and the have not—black or white.
2. The working class —black or white.
3. And the third, the one no politician wants to truly confront—the underworld. The drug economy. The shadow market that fuels gunfire, claims lives, and poisons the very fabric of our island.
This third Bermuda thrives in silence, protected by fear, enabled by weak policy, and emboldened by a justice system that too often sends killers back to the streets. The current administration has the power to crush this system—but lacks the will to do what is necessary. Will this PLP administration amend the laws and penalty structure that will address this epidemic.
If we are really serious, as widely suggested by members of our community, stated the solutions are not complicated. Specific curfews in hotspots. Relentless law enforcement presence. Sentences so severe for gun crimes, such as murder that offenders are effectively removed from society for life in definitely as seen in other Caribbean islands to the south of Bermuda. In Jamaica such legislation has assisted the ruling party in addressing the gun and murder crisis process. Also a dedicated prison facility for murderers and lifers—separated from petty offenders—so that prison stops being a recruitment ground for the underworld.
Bermuda also needs to face an uncomfortable truth: we cannot save everyone. Some are too deep in this life. But we can save the next generation—if we act now. That means a zero-tolerance stance toward destructive behavior from a young age, combined with real opportunities for those who want out before it’s too late.
Gun violence is not an abstract problem. It’s not “someone else’s neighborhood.” It’s here, now, embedded in our streets, our schools, and our families. If the government fails to act, and if the community refuses to stand up, the third Bermuda will keep growing—and the body count will rise.
The time for speeches has passed. Only decisive action will dismantle the underworld that this report exposes.
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