His Excellency John Rood, United States Ambassador to The Bahamas, addresses the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security the Hon. Cynthia Pratt during a press conference on Wednesday at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the Churchill Building.
Ambassador Rood presented the deputy prime minister, who is also the minister of national security, with the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2005, which named The Bahamas as a major drug trafficking country.
Minister Pratt said the report is a balanced one, which gives credit to the efforts that the Government of The Bahamas and its law enforcement agencies are making in the fight against illegal drugs.
Explaining the reason for the country’s presence on the narcotics list, Ambassador Rood said, “The fact that The Bahamas appeared on this list caused concern for a lot of people in the country-but it’s merely due to the country’s geographical position.”
“Being listed just means geographically that there is an issue that we must continue to work together as partners to address because if we don’t we [would] see that the transshipment of drugs through The Bahamas [would] increase.”
Ambassador Rood told the deputy prime minister that the president of the United States has also acknowledged that a country’s presence on the list does not mean that its government is not fully cooperating in the anti-drug fight.
“One of the reasons that major drug transit or illicit drug producing countries are placed on the list is a combination of geographical, commercial and economic factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced,” the ambassador added.
He said several countries that were named on the list have done exceptionally in their fight against drugs.
Among those countries were Colombia, The Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, he said. Seventeen other countries were also named to what is known as the “Majors List” for either being a major drug trafficking or drug producing country.
“We note that the police in The Bahamas have a superb record in terms of handling drug trafficking organizations,” Ambassador Rood said. “From 2001, The Bahamas has stopped illegal activity of three drug rings, an accomplishment, which resulted in hundreds of arrests of criminals in The Bahamas as well as the United States.
“So it’s clear [that] being on this list is not a reflection of the effort being made or the cooperation. I think we are working very well together.”
Ambassador Rood said in recent years the amount of drugs passing through The Bahamas that is destined for the United States has declined substantially.
The deputy prime minister said that the designation of The Bahamas as a major transit country for cocaine and marijuana bound for the United States is a continuing concern for the Bahamian public.
She too noted that the country’s geographical position means that it will continue to be listed.
But she added, “This does not mean that The Bahamas is doing nothing to stop the flow of drugs through its waters and airspace.
“The Bahamas is also concerned as a responsible international neighbour to the United States and as a responsible citizen state not to allow its national boundaries to be traversed for criminal purposes.”
Minister Pratt said there continues to be success stories.
She noted that the 97 men of the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Royal Bahamas Police Force seized 741 kilos of cocaine and 1.8 metric tons of marijuana and made 1,600 drug assets in 2004.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
