Bahamas

Law Enforcement Strategies

On March 18, 1982, the governments of the Bahamas, United States, and United Kingdom, on behalf of the Turks and Caicos Islands, were signatories to a tripartite agreement known as Operation Bahamas America Turks and Caicos (OPBAT). OPBAT is a model agreement established to interdict and disrupt narcotic networks working within and through those three countries. From 1992 to November 2003, OPBAT seized over 43,704 pounds of cocaine, 59,155 pounds of marijuana, 53,345 marijuana plants, and 9,094 pounds of hashish oil. While not a solution to the drug problem, OPBAT dealt a severe blow to the drug cartels of Colombia as many of their leaders were immobilized and operations disrupted. In May 1996 the U.S. government signed a maritime agreement that permits Bahamian law enforcement officers to act as “ship riders” on U.S. vessels operating in Bahamian waters. This policy permits U.S. vessels to support these ship riders in Bahamian territorial seas to board, search, and—if evidence warrants—seize vessels suspected of involvement in drug trafficking and other criminal activities. It also allows U.S. law enforcement aircraft to over-fly Bahamian territory.

Drug Market

The Bahamas remains a transient environment that is tourism-based, with large numbers of people entering and leaving the islands. Drug traffickers exploit this transiency, with the most prevalent mode of trafficking involving freighters, fast boats, and small aircraft. Traffickers typically store the drugs on desolate islands before shipment onto their final destinations. The increased presence of [Page 82]Jamaican and Haitian nationals with links to drug producing and/or receiving countries continue to pose significant challenges for law enforcement.

In an attempt to increase the sphere of influence, maintain market competitiveness, and evade capture from law enforcement, TNCOs make use of progressive technology in a manner analogous to multinational corporations. TNCOs have access to and use a wide variety of weapon technology, computer networking, and transportation in the pursuit of illegal ends. Moreover, TNCOs impact governmental institutions, social organizations, and the economic foundations of a society. For example, a 2003 survey found that 20.5 percent of all Bahamian students had tried an illicit drug and 10.7 percent had used within the past year, with the most prevalent of these drug being marijuana. The most popular illegal drugs in the Bahamas are marijuana and cocaine. Based on United Nations statistics, 4.7 percent of the adult population uses marijuana annually, and slightly less than 1.0 percent use cocaine annually. These are also the most popular drugs for sale on the streets, with a street value from about $8,075 to $14,100 per kilogram and $500 to $1,000 per pound respectively. Traffickers have also begun to use the Bahamas as an alternative transshipment location for European MDMA (ecstasy) destined for the United States.

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