Bahamian drug trafficking organizations are using the Turks and Caicos Islands as a transshipment point.
This was revealed in the 2012 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) which was released by the State Department in Washington on Wednesday.
“Information acquired by host country law enforcement suggests that drug trafficking organizations have utilized air drops and remote airfields to deliver large cocaine shipments to the Turks and Caicos Islands and to The Bahamas from Venezuela and Colombia. Recent investigations reveal that Bahamian drug trafficking organizations are using the Turks and Caicos Islands as a transshipment point,” the document stated.
According to the INCSR report, cocaine continues to transit The Bahamas via go-fast boats, small commercial freighters, containers, and small aircraft. Small sport fishing vessels and pleasure crafts move cocaine from The Bahamas to Florida by blending in with legitimate traffic that transit these areas. Larger ?go-fast and sport fishing vessels transport marijuana from Jamaica through The Bahamas and into Florida in the same manner as cocaine. Traffickers also skirt along the loosely monitored Cuban coast line, looking for opportune moments to break for Florida through Bahamian waters.
During 2011, The Bahamas and U.S. law enforcement assets worked together on over 35 successful interdictions. U.S. antidrug-related agencies estimate that there are 12 to 15 significant drug trafficking organizations operating in The Bahamas.
It was noted that Haitian and Haitian-Bahamian drug trafficking organizations continue to play a major role in the movement of cocaine from Hispaniola through The Bahamas. Investigations of these organizations are hindered by an enduring lack of Creole speakers within the Drug Enforcement Unit.
Meantime, the report added that the US Coast Guard (USCG) is moving forward with its plans to rebuild the OPBAT hangar on the island of Great Inagua. This two-year construction project will allow USCG to base helicopters flying in support of OPBAT on Great Inagua. Since Hurricane Ike destroyed the original Great Inagua hangar in 2008, USCG helicopters temporarily operate out of the Turks and Caicos Islands as part of its participation in OPBAT.
The report revealed that although maritime means remain a significant method of drug transit through The Bahamas, the majority of cocaine seized in recent years has been concealed in containerized cargo transiting the Freeport Container Port on the island of Grand Bahamas. DEA believes that Colombian traffickers are utilizing containerized cargo as a means to thwart the efforts of law enforcement officials in The Bahamas. Approximately three metric tons of cocaine have been seized at the Freeport Container Port since 2007. Nevertheless, the amounts seized from containers have diminished in recent years, including 2011.
“Contraband is smuggled through a variety of vessels, employing myriad strategies. Larger vessels are known to offload drugs on to small vessels before checking in with Bahamian Customs, and many vessels do not register at all when entering Bahamian waters. The DEU, in conjunction with the DEA, continued a program in Great Inagua to enforce Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas requirements that vessels entering Bahamian territorial waters report to Bahamian Customs,” the report stated.
“The Bahamas archipelago, covering an area about the size of California, is home to several transit points for South American cocaine and marijuana and (mostly) Jamaican marijuana bound for the United States. Cocaine and marijuana are transshipped through The Bahamas‘ many islands and cays. Drug Trafficking Organizations take advantage of the vast geography and many hidden inlets by utilizing small commercial and private conveyances, both marine and aerial, to avoid detection.”
Source: The Turks & Caicos Sun
