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."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin