Local drug dealers are going global in taking a more multi-national approach in smuggling illicit narcotics through the Bahamas, according to police authorities.
Superintendent Raymond Gibson of the Drug Enforcement Unit said this week that police are now seeing greater collaboration between the Columbian, Jamaican, Haitian and Bahamian trafficking organizations. In some instances, drug traffickers masquerade as tourists, he said.
It’s one factor that might account for a drop in Bahamian drug arrests and a rise in the arrest of non-Bahamians on drug-related charges, according to police.
In 2005, DEU officers arrested 1,349 Bahamians and 142 non-Bahamians, in comparison to 1,477 Bahamians and 135 non-Bahamians in 2004.
Mr. Gibson said police are “satisfied and convinced” that the sharp decline in drug seizures could be attributed to the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s aggressive initiatives, along with its ability to infiltrate, interdict and prosecute major drug traffickers here.
“We firmly believe that because of our law enforcement interdiction successes many trafficking organizations no longer view the Bahamas as a safe destination and have chosen alternative routes,” Mr. Gibson said.
Pointing to two major drug busts that netted alleged foreign drug traffickers he noted the success of regional cooperation.
In last September’s “Operation Pirates Den” DEU officers reportedly seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine in Bimini, which was headed to the U.S. Two Americans were arrested and are awaiting trial.
More recently, in December, “Operation Thunder” targeted a major drug trafficking organization believed to be shipping large quantities of cocaine into the United States, police said.
This organization was comprised of Panamanian, Columbian, American, Jamaican and Bahamian nationals, according to police. Additionally, in this same case, two Bahamians were arrested reportedly while making transactions in the Dominican Republic.
In 2005, the Drug Enforcement Unit in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration launched five major drug interdiction operations in the Bahamas, according to police who said that all were connected with marijuana smuggling.
In total, 15 persons were arrested and 1,818 pounds of marijuana – with an estimated street value of $2.2 million – was seized, police said.
DEU also initiated 17 operations last year, which resulted in five cases involving a total of 97.5 pounds of cocaine and culminated in the arrest of six persons.
Additionally, police said 12 marijuana cases led to the arrest of 32 persons and the seizure of 4,815 pounds of marijuana, along with 7,600 marijuana plants.
Police said the cultivation of the marijuana plant in most cases involved Bahamians and Jamaicans in remote areas, particularly the Family Islands.
Mr. Gibson said marijuana cultivation in The Bahamas is “seemingly” growing as an “experimental project.”
By: Tosheena Robinson-Blair, The Bahama Journal
