Many who visit the isles of The Bahamas see the crystal clear waters and miles of sandy white beaches, but deep in its underbelly lies a culture riddled with drug smuggling that has spanned decades.
Drug running in the country was placed under an intense media spotlight in the early eighties and according to many experts, the illegal practice is still flourishing. Today, they claim that the country’s close proximity to the United States has made it a major drop-off point and “hub” for drugs that are headed into the U.S.
But what is believed to be the biggest deterrent to drug smuggling, came just two years later.
Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos was started in 1982 as a joint US, Bahamian and British effort to interdict the flow of illegal drugs into and through the 100,000-square-mile area, while at the same time assisting the islands’ police and military forces in drug-control operations.
But this initiative recently swirled in a web of controversy after US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, wrote a letter to Attorney Alberto Gonzales in mid-May suggesting that the Army remove its seven Black Hawk helicopters and its crews from the operation, putting another agency in its place. The “programme now competes with resources necessary for the war on terrorism and other activities in support of our nation’s defence.”
This proposal prompted an outcry from both US and Bahamian officials, who claimed the already troubling drug problem would quickly spiral out of control.
Meanwhile, drug experts claim that the cultivation of marijuana plants in The Bahamas is on the rise and the herb is increasingly growing as an experimental project for Bahamians and Jamaicans.
In January, Officer in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU), Supt Raymond Gibson, said that the cultivation of the marijuana plant in most cases, involves Bahamians and Jamaicans in remote areas, particularly in the Family Islands.
Statistics have also shown that the amount of marijuana plants discovered in 2005 has sharply increased. A total of 8,305 plants were discovered in 2005, while 1,552 plants were discovered in 2004.
Last year, the DEU worked closely with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency and launched five major drug interdiction operations in The Bahamas, which were all connected with marijuana smuggling. Fifteen persons were arrested and 1,818 pounds of marijuana were seized, with a local street value of $2,181,600.
In December of 2005, the cracking of a major international drug operation led to the arrest of at least two Bahamians, one of whom played a lead role in the illicit network, and helped to launder large sums of money.
Eric Gardiner and Tryone Russell were arrested in the Dominican Republic, along with Panamanian national Rogelio Griffith, when an undercover network of law enforcement officials from the United States, The Bahamas and four other countries, swooped down on the organisation in a covert sting called Operation Cali Exchange.
Reportedly, Gardiner was named as one of the defendants who led the Panama leg of the operation that helped to co-ordinate and provide maritime transportation of drugs and money through the Caribbean corridor.
But an even bigger indication of how serious the problem of drug smuggling really is in The Bahamas today, came just days ago, when DEA agents, after acting on an undercover tip, seized $1.9 million in drugs and cash during a weekend raid in New Providence.
The agents raided a Gladstone Road apartment on Saturday, where they found roughly $1,712,000 in drugs. According to the authorities, 105 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of $1,680,000, were seized in the apartment, along with 32 and a half pounds of marijuana which had an estimated street value of $32,000.
Despite the drug smuggling activities, The Bahamas has been listed as one of the nations to “steadily co-operate” in reducing international drug trafficking and criminal activity.
The US State Department in its 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), praised The Bahamas for working closely with the United States Government (USG), in a bid to stop the flow of illegal drugs through its territory.
“The Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas (GCOB) co-operates closely with the USG to target Bahamian drug trafficking organisations, and to reduce the domestic demand for drugs within the Bahamian population.”
By: JASMIN BONIMY, The Nassau Guardian
