Four Grand Bahamians were among more than a dozen people arrested when authorities shut down what they said was a drug distribution and money laundering operation that involved the United States, The Bahamas, Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Panama, a Bahamian law enforcement official confirmed.
The suspects were reportedly arrested in the Dominican Republic.
Although the source declined to release any names, according to the U.S Drug Enforcement Agency [DEA], Eric Gardiner – a Bahamian – was arrested last Tuesday in the Dominican Republic and was named as one of the defendants who led the Panama based operation that helped to coordinate and provide maritime transportation of drugs and money through the Caribbean corridor.
DEA agents and their international partners infiltrated the organization.
According to the charges in the indictment that was brought in a U.S. court, Gardiner funneled a large quantity of currency through the U.S. banking system into bank accounts in Panama.
Other alleged members of the organization arrested in the Dominican Republic include Rogelio Griffith, a Panamanian, and Tyrone Russell of the Bahamas, according to the DEA.
DEA officials said other defendants in the investigation included Colombian national Jose Ignacio Lopez, and Dewey Davis, an American from Miami. Davis was allegedly a Gardiner associate who also laundered drug proceeds and trafficked cocaine in Miami for the organization. Lopez and Davis were among those arrested in Miami.
Arrangements were being made to have the three defendants sent to Miami, Florida to face U.S. prosecution.
The Bahamian police official who spoke to the Bahama Journal explained that the drug trade had enticed a lot of young Bahamian males in Grand Bahama because of the lack of opportunities there following the last few hurricanes and the continued closure of a major resort on that island.
Operation Cali Exchange, as it was dubbed, was said to have resulted in 24 indictments and 18 arrests and the seizure of over $7 million, 2,107 kilograms of cocaine and 518 pounds of marijuana.
The clandestine operation was the third of its kind employed by the DEA under its Money Trail Initiative as a financial crime strategy. The aim is to attack the financing of the illegal drug trade and ultimately dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.
Investigators said they were secretly tracking the drug distribution and money laundering network that utilized various methods such as bulk cash deliveries, wire transfers, and use of the Colombian Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) to launder drug proceeds in Miami, New York, and Chicago and return drug profits to the drug suppliers based in Colombia, according to authorities.
The investigation also reportedly revealed that 28 different bank accounts in the United States and abroad were utilized to launder drug proceeds, and that over $10.2 million was laundered through the U.S. banking system.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida is prosecuting the case. Charges in the indictment include conspiracy to distribute cocaine, distribution of cocaine, importation of a controlled substance, money laundering, and criminal forfeiture.
“Drug traffickers are using their profits to burrow into our neighborhoods and corrupt legitimate banking systems,” said DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy. “In major drug trafficking operations, money is the thread that unravels the drugs and devastation otherwise hidden by dealers. DEA knows where money leads, and we will be relentless in going after it.”
Restraining orders have been executed on 28 domestic bank accounts, and three Miami residences, eight vehicles, one boat, and one motorcycle have been seized pending forfeiture proceedings as part of Operation Cali Exchange, authorities said.
“This investigation and prosecution strikes at the heart of this international drug organization and is aimed at dismantling the entire drug trafficking organization, from top to bottom,” said United States Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida.
Source: The Bahama Journal
