Pubdate: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 Source: Bahama Journal, The (Bahamas) Copyright: 2007sJones Communications Ltd. Contact: http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=136 Website: http://www.jonesbahamas.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4387 Author: Rogan M. Smith Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/bahamas BAHAMAS LAUDED FOR EFFORTS IN DRUG WAR U.S. and Bahamian authorities seized more than 1.6 metric tons of cocaine, 140 metric tons of marijuana, arrested nearly 1,400 people on drug-related offenses and seized drug related assets valued at nearly $2.5 million in 2006, according to the 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for the Bahamas. Cocaine seizures doubled and there was a 10-fold increase over 2005, according to U.S. Embassy's Narcotics Affairs Officer David Foran. Mr. Foran spoke about aspects of the annual drug report Thursday during a press conference at the embassy in Nassau. The United States Congress requires that all embassies complete reports on narcotics trafficking through the countries where they are based so that the president can determine whether a country should be on the majors list. The report comes in two volumes: The first deals with narcotics trafficking and the other deals with money laundering. Mr. Foran said the reports are "very favourable" to the Bahamas. He also noted the close cooperation and relationship the Bahamas has with the U.S. and its efforts to stem the flow of drugs and combat money laundering. "Another very positive thing that we've seen this year is an increase in the integration of the Royal Bahamas Police Force into [Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos] and efforts to fight drug narcotic trafficking as a result of the assets that are available to the Defence Force - so that's something that will continue in the future," he said. Mr. Foran said the United States has noticed an increase in marijuana being cultivated in the Bahamas. "What we're seeing is on some of the Family Islands and cays Jamaicans are [going there] and planting fields. The OPBAT helicopters fly by and find a field and the [Defence Force] or [Police Force] will go in and seize the plants, so that's something that is very new," he said. Mr. Foran said the Bahamas would remain on the majors list. The President of the United States places certain countries on the majors list if they produce a significant direct source of narcotics that significantly affect the United States or if they are a major transshipment point for drugs. The Bahamas is a major transit country for cocaine and marijuana bound for the U.S. from South America and the Caribbean, according to U.S. authorities. The president may determine that a majors list country is cooperating fully with the United States, or has taken adequate steps on its own, to achieve full compliance with the goals and objectives of the 1988 U.N. Drug Convention. In reaching this determination, the president is required to consider each country's performance in areas such as stemming illicit cultivation, extraditing drug traffickers, and taking legal steps and law enforcement measures to prevent and punish public corruption that facilitates drug trafficking or impedes prosecution of drug-related crimes. "The majors list is something that has caused some controversy in the past here in the Bahamas," Mr. Foran said. "A lot of people argue 'we cooperate very closely; we do our best and yet we're on the major's list.' As we've said repeatedly and Ambassador [John] Rood has mentioned a number of times...the main reason [why] the Bahamas will remain on the majors list is your location. "You're located the main quarter between the main suppliers of cocaine in South America and Jamaica and this huge consumer market that is the United States. "As long as that happens, which will happen for the foreseeable future, the Bahamas will remain on the majors list. Being on that list is not an indictment or an indication that a country is not doing its best to fight narcotics trafficking, but it's an acknowledgement of where the country is geographically and what we can expect in the future." Mr. Foran said the general feeling among U.S. officials is that the Bahamas is doing a very good job in the drug war. "I think the area that we would like to see improvement, and we need to work on it as well, is integration with the government of Haiti and working with it because one of the things that we have seen - and there's a great deal of it - is a lot of narcotics, specifically cocaine going into Haiti and we don't have as much information of where it is and where it's coming out," he said. "I think the Government of the Bahamas has taken some steps this year to acknowledge that and I believe the police commissioner was down and invited some Haitian national police to study at the police college. There is a proposal to bring an English-speaking Haitian national police to great Inagua and to use that person to interview the crew and captains of Haitian sloops that pass through Great Inagua and are required to check in there. So that's something we would encourage to continue." Mr. Foran acknowledged that resources to combat the flow of drugs are scarce for the Bahamas, but said he hopes the Bahamas government continues to provide adequate funding for its armed forces so that they can adequately interdict drugs. "We acknowledge that there are a lot competing priorities. We see it ourselves in the U.S. that countries have to make decisions as to where they'll spend their money, but we hope the Government of the Bahamas will continue to provide the resources that the police and defence force need to continue," he said. Mr. Foran said the Bahamas has proven itself over the years to be a true ally for the United States. "There's no greater cooperation with any country in the world. There's cooperation between the police, the defence force. Our law enforcement folks are first rate. We really appreciate that and it's an acknowledgement by the Bahamas that not all of the narcotics that come through here are going to the U.S. A lot of it is stopping here so there's definitely some self-interest in working to prevent the flow of narcotics to the Bahamas," he said. "There's nothing that we would say that the government is not doing as far as fighting the flow of narcotics." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin