\uff93I suppose he may have had early information,\uff92 said Reginald Ferguson, assistant commissioner of police for crime. \uff93That\uffb4s why the officers did not catch him where we expected him to be. He was able to elude us, but it wouldn\uffb4t be long.\uff92 <\/P><\/p>\n
Mr. Ferguson is confident that police will find Maycock, whose son Melvin Maycock Jr., was among 12 men charged on Friday after law enforcement authorities cracked the smuggling operation that reportedly spanned several countries, including The Bahamas, Canada, Jamaica, Columbia and the United States.<\/P><\/p>\n
Asked whether Maycock may have been tipped off by an insider, Mr. Ferguson hastily defended the integrity of officers involved in the sting operation.<\/P><\/p>\n
\uff93One of the things I am very proud of in so far as the Bahamian police are concerned is the fact that this matter had not been compromised,\uff92 Mr. Ferugson said. \uff93For me, that is one of the better things that came out of this investigation.\uff92<\/P><\/p>\n
The 12 men are expected back in court July 29 when an extradition hearing date will be set to determine whether they will face drug related charges in the United States.<\/P><\/p>\n
The Maycock\/Smith operation was one of the major drug trafficking rings in the Caribbean, according to Mr. Ferguson.<\/P><\/p>\n
Mr. Ferguson said he anticipates that due to cracking the operation, the country will probably see a lull in drug trafficking activities in the immediate future. <\/P><\/p>\n
Describing the successful takedown as a two-edged sword, Mr. Ferguson said the operation could help the image of The Bahamas or further promote it as a string of islands controlled by drug barons. \uffa0<\/P><\/p>\n
\uff93We don\uffb4t want to get back to the years where we have the kind of image that makes us look like some kind of drug trafficking nation,\uff92 he said. \uff93The interdiction could have that kind of spill over in terms of what our image looks like internationally, but I also believe that we are developing the image that there\uffb4s no safe haven for drug trafficking in the Bahamian territory.\uff92<\/P><\/p>\n
Mr. Ferguson said he doesn\uffb4t consider cracking the ring to be a victory, as the struggle against drug traffickers continues. \uffa0<\/P><\/p>\n
\uff93The fight will continue because of the amount of money involved,\uff92 he added. \uffa0\uff93Some of the drug cartels have more money than budgets of nations and so people would always risk their lives and get rich.\uff92<\/P><\/p>\n
According to Mr. Ferguson, it\uffb4s not unusual for drug dealers to finance businesses as a means of legitimizing their deposits. \uffa0<\/P><\/p>\n
He said drug dealers use numerous \uff93washing ways\uff92 to disguise dirty money, including investing in properties, building apartments, getting someone to \uff93front\uff92 a business and holding major concerts.<\/P><\/p>\n
\uff93Because of the banking system today, you cannot deposit large amounts of money without it being questioned\uff85we suspect that some of these large concerts that they put on are a means of washing dirty money,\uff92 the senior police official said. \uff93They put on these big concerts and what they rake in, they could justify it when putting it in the bank.\uff92<\/P><\/p>\n
Additionally, drug pushers reportedly support their local communities, a means Mr. Ferguson said interferes with law enforcement.<\/P><\/p>\n
\uff93It is anything but help,\uff92 he added. \uffa0\uff93It is destructive. \uffa0They are inflicting hell on the community. <\/P><\/p>\n
\uff93They are setting themselves up as the Robin Hood in their neighborhoods\uff85once they would have done that, (police) have trouble infiltrating an area that they control because everybody is on the look-out for the police.\uff92<\/P><\/p>\n
Stating that such actions are \uff93destroying the soul of the nation\uff92, Mr. Ferguson said many persons feel obligated to shield drug dealers who influence their communities. <\/P><\/p>\n
\uff93That is the mindset we are developing in our young. You think they\uffb4re going to be interested in education or self-development? No, they are going to be interested in making a fast buck. \uffa0You see how dangerous that becomes for our community?\uff92<\/P><\/p>\n
The senior police officer pointed out that there have been situations in The Bahamas where entire families are involved in the drug trade, including grandmothers.<\/P><\/p>\n
\uff93A grandmother was actually responsible for the securing of dope,\uff92 he said. \uffa0\uff93The money is enticement. \uffa0It stirs the greed.\uff92<\/P><\/p>\n
Mr. Ferguson added that legislation provides for the assets and proceeds of convicted drug dealers to be used for anti-drug programmes. He couldn\uffb4t, however, speak to what exactly would occur in the Maycock\/Smith case.<\/P><\/p>\n
He was able to say though that in a joint operation where assets may have been confiscated in another country, Attorneys General of the respective countries will address asset sharing.<\/P><\/p>\n
Hadassah Hall, The Bahama Journal<\/B><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A senior police officer confirmed Monday that authorities are still hunting for Melvin Maycock Sr., one of the alleged masterminds of a major regional cocaine smuggling network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}