Police spokesman Inspector Walter Evans told reporters that officers, on Saturday afternoon, found 105 kilos of cocaine with a street value of $1.6 million during a bust around 4:30pm.
They also discovered, according to Mr. Evans, 32 1/2 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $32,000.
Additionally, they reportedly discovered a .38 revolver and two live rounds of ammunition along with $228,723 in cash.
Officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) arrested a 30-year-old Bahamian man who was in the apartment at the time, police said.
“We believe that others may be involved in this drug seizure,” said Mr. Evans, during a press conference at his office at Police Headquarters on East Street North.
“So certainly the efforts of the Drug Enforcement Unit, the director and the entire team is that of seeking after those persons who may have been involved in this amount of drugs. We do not believe that one person would have been involved by himself with this amount of drugs, cash and firearms.”
The total combined estimated street value of the drugs is $1,712,000, according to Mr. Evans.
Noting that police were acting on information, he also pointed to the role that the public plays in these kinds of seizures.
“We got information, and this is where the public plays a significant role or a key role in the successes of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in our fight against crime,” Mr. Evans said.
“The public has assisted us. They saw certain activities that had been carried out and obviously they passed that information onto the police. We have an obligation once we receive information to do certain things, and we would have done just that, which would have resulted in the successes we would have achieved in this drug bust.”
Saying that he wished not to compromise the integrity of the investigations, Mr. Evans declined to give the exact location of the apartment complex in which the drugs were discovered.
He said police were aggressively investigating the find and were in search of additional suspects.
Mr. Evans also vowed that officers will continue efforts to crack down on the drug trade in the country.
In March, the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report released by the US State Department listed the Bahamas as “a major transit country for cocaine and marijuana bound for the U.S. from South America and the Caribbean.”
That same report noted that the Government of the Bahamas “cooperates closely with the [US government] to stop the flow of illegal drugs through its territory, to target Bahamian drug trafficking organizations, and to reduce the domestic demand for drugs within the Bahamian population.”
The report also said the DEU cooperated closely with the U.S. and foreign law enforcement agencies on drug investigations in 2005.
Marijuana seizures reportedly doubled last year, while cocaine seizures decreased as a result of previous yearsﾒ break up of the largest drug trafficking organization in The Bahamas.
During 2005, the DEU reportedly seized 1.01 metric tons of cocaine and 13 metric tons of marijuana.
The DEU arrested 1,382 persons on drug-related offenses and seized drug-related assets, including five boats and five vehicles. Cocaine seizures decreased compared to 2004 levels. This decrease is the result of the continued vigilance and precise targeting actions by law enforcement agencies and the 2005 hurricane season, the report said.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
