The saga of illicit trading in The Bahamas began well before narcotics trafficking ...with bootlegging and piracy... ...So entwined is Bahamian history with smuggling and outrunning the law, it permeates Bahamian culture... ...The Bahamas cannot afford to lose investor confidence with the country’s governing stability marred by increased criminal activity

Drug trafficking via The Bahamas

The Old Bahamian Culture of Illicit Trading in The Bahamas

With over 700 islands spread across thousands of miles of water, The Bahamas’ coastline provides innumerable opportunities to smuggle drugs, weapons and humans.  There are simply too many places to hide, stash, and transit illegal goods and too few resources to track, locate, and arrest perpetrators.

The Bahamas has the uncanny ability to attract so-called dubious individuals – from financiers avoiding extradition or taxes, to drug and human traffickers.  Our island nation of some 350,000 does little to halt the perception that participation in illegal activities is welcomed here.

Drug trafficking is alive and well in The Bahamas as evidenced by the stash of 345 pounds of cocaine worth $2.5 million found at North West Cay, off Great Inagua.  The joint operation between the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) attests to the crucial coordination between The Bahamas and U.S. governments to thwart drug smuggling.

The Bahamas has a partner with vast resources to help combat narcotics trafficking, but unless Bahamians make a commitment to prosecute and incarcerate dealers in a timely manner, drug trafficking will continue to proliferate across the islands.  The Bahamas must also commit to harsher sentences for those caught smuggling large amounts of narcotics.

As vast as the waters of The Bahamas are, the airways are not immune to drug transit.  In just two months, police have reported the confiscation of over 50 pounds of cocaine at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA).  In August police allege an individual upon arrival to customs was found with four and a half pounds of cocaine; in mid-July police allege an individual with over seven pounds of cocaine was discovered; and in early July over 40 pounds of cocaine was found on a commercial airline after police acted on information from U.S. Customs & Border Protection personnel.

The Bahamas must press forward in the fight to combat the trafficking of drugs through our country.  Though it may never cease completely, we cannot ignore the affiliation of drug trafficking to other crimes being committed.  We only need to look at Mexico.

The saga of illicit trading in The Bahamas began well before narcotics trafficking with bootlegging and piracy.  So entwined is Bahamian history with smuggling and outrunning the law, it permeates Bahamian culture.  But set now in the global age, The Bahamas cannot afford to lose investor confidence with the country’s governing stability marred by increased criminal activity.

Sep 06, 2012

thenassauguardian editorial

The Bahamas is a major smuggling zone for people and narcotics to the United States from South America and the Caribbean... However, there are usually no prosecutions for human smuggling for some reason

Changing how we respond to human smuggling

thenassauguardian editorial

At least 11 people are dead as a result of a suspected human smuggling operation gone wrong off Abaco a few weeks ago.  Authorities fear 10 other passengers, who remain unaccounted form the vessel ‘Cosy Time’, are dead.

Twenty-eight passengers were reportedly onboard the vessel and seven people survived.  The victims are all thought to be of Haitian descent.

National Security Minister Dr. Bernard Nottage has told the House of Assembly that one of the survivors, a man of Bahamian-Haitian descent, said he boarded the boat because his mother insisted he go to the United States on the vessel.

“The gentleman further stated that he believed each person paid a total of $5,000 a head for the journey,” Dr. Nottage said.

The Bahamas is a major smuggling zone for people and narcotics to the United States from South America and the Caribbean.  However, there are usually no prosecutions for human smuggling for some reason.

Most of the people smuggled here are Haitians and many die trying to escape the poorest country in the hemisphere.

Thus far one person has been charged in connection with the deaths in Abaco.  Several others have been taken in to custody for questioning.  The man who has been charged is innocent until proven guilty in a court.  We make no comment on his guilt or innocence, but we commend the government for this time investigating this matter seriously and seeking to bring before the court those it suspects responsible so that a jury could decide their fates.

One of the ways to slow human smuggling is to aggressively prosecute those involved.  When migrants are killed in human smuggling operations those who organized the operations and those who command the vessels are criminally responsible for those deaths.  Manslaughter charges should be leveled against smugglers who survive these tragic occurrences.

If we do not get tough with this heinous crime it will continue and more desperate people will lose their lives seeking better lives away from their economically challenged homelands.

The witness told police one of the boat’s engines kept cutting off, which slowed it down.

“He reported that the seas were very rough and the vessel began to take on water,” Dr. Nottage said.

“The vessel eventually capsized and everyone began to scramble to save their lives.  He reported that he did his best to save other persons, but the sea was too rough, so he had to save his own life.”

We must not just view this situation as tragic.  The Bahamas should use it as an opportunity to change how we deal with human smugglers.  They prey on the desperation of poor people.

Jun 25, 2012

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International