By Lloyd Williams, Senior Associate EditorJAMAICA'S ROLE as the Caribbean's major grower and exporter of ganja (marijuana), and a major staging area for the transit of cocaine from South America to the United States and Europe, has been well-documented in the annual International Narcotics Control Strategy reports of the U.S. State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
The following are highlights from the March 2004 INCSR of illicit drug activities in the various countries of the Caribbean:
The Bahamas
The Bahamas continues its role as a major transit country for cocaine and marijuana bound for the U.S. from South America and the Caribbean.
The Bahamas is a country of an estimated 310,000 inhabitants and 700 islands and cays distributed over an area similar in size to that of the state of California. The Bahamas' strategic location on the maritime and aerial routes between Colombia and the United States (U.S.) makes it an attractive location for drug transhipments of Colombian cocaine and Jamaican marijuana. It is estimated that some 12 per cent of the cocaine trafficked to the U.S. passes through the Jamaica-Cuba-Bahamas vector. Although small plots of marijuana plants have been found in Grand Bahamas, Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros and Cat Island, The Bahamas is considered neither a significant drug producer, nor a producer or transit point for drug precursor chemicals.
COCAINE
The Bahamas participates actively in 'Operation Bahamas and Turks and Caicos' (OPBAT), a multi-agency international drug interdiction co-operative effort established in 1982. OPBAT is the largest and longest-established co-operative effort overseas by any government involved in drug enforcement. During 2003, OPBAT seized 6.8 metric tonnes of cocaine and 13 metric tonnes of marijuana.
Most of the cocaine flow originates in Colombia and arrives in the Bahamas via 'go-fast' boats from Jamaica. The go-fast boats are the vehicles of choice for traffickers as they are a more elusive means of transportation, and the reduced load size keeps the losses due to interdiction or otherwise to a minimum. During 2003, law enforcement officials identified on average, a suspicious 'go-fast'-type boat on Bahamian waters every 3.5 days. In addition, there were 61 drug smuggling aircraft detected over Bahamian territory. Small amounts of drugs were found on individuals transiting through the international airports in Nassau and Grand Bahama Island and the transatlantic cruise ship ports.
In 2003, Bahamian law enforcement officials identified shipments of drugs in Haitian sloops, fishing boats and pleasure vessels. Also significant amounts of illegal drugs have been found in transiting cargo containers stationed at the Port Container facility in Freeport. DEA/OPBAT estimates that there are a dozen major Bahamian drug trafficking organisations.
Overseas Territories
The five British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean (Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands) each have their own drug strategies focused on interdiction, prevention, health, and education.
The interdiction effort is focused on preventing drugs from entering each territory and its territorial waters being used as a transit route to the United States and Europe. In support of the United Kingdom (U.K.) Drug Strategy, HMG Customs and Excise have two officers based in Miami which are the Drug Liaison Officers covering the United States and the Overseas Territories.
All the Overseas Territories co-operate regularly with the U.S. DEA and the U.S. Coast Guard on counternarcotics initiatives and operations, and on other drug-related crimes, such as money laundering.
Since March 18, 1982, the Turks and Caicos Islands have been a signatory to a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding with the United States and the Bahamas to combat drug trafficking. Known as OPBAT, this permanent operation has seized over 75,000 kilograms of cocaine and 375,000 kilograms of marijuana, according to U.K. official statistics.
AIRCRAFT
In addition to providing police personnel to OPBAT, the Turks and Caicos Islands has a police fixed-wing aircraft and sea vessels to support the operation as required. The British Virgin Islands also has a fixed-wing aircraft and all the other Overseas Territories have police marine vessels to support combined operations. The British Virgin Islands works closely with the U.S. DEA in the U.S. Virgin Islands and with the Coast Guard based in Puerto Rico. The Cayman Islands works closely with Jamaica and the U.S. DEA on joint counternarcotics operations.
In addition to the individual territories' aircraft and vessels, the Royal Navy deploys a destroyer or frigate guard ship, with support vessel, in the Caribbean for most of the year. Much of the time is spent on counternarcotics operations co-ordinated by the U.K.'s. Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S).
Cuba
The Government of Cuba (GoC) issued Decree 232 in January 2003, initiating a nationwide crackdown on domestic narcotics trafficking and possession. The decree authorised arrests and confiscation of property of drug producers, traffickers, and users.
The GoC implemented 'Opera-
tion Hatchet III', an ongoing counternarcotics interdiction operation focused on disrupting maritime and air trafficking routes, recovering washed-up narcotics, and a nation-wide public affairs campaign to encourage citizens to report any drug trafficking or drug wash-ups to Cuban law enforcement authorities, in 2003.
EXPANSION
The GoC reported an expansion of its coastal watch station programme and reported the existence of 239 coastal watch stations with 7,344 personnel assigned around the island of Cuba. They also claimed to establish counternarcotics units equipped with drug detection dogs and x-ray equipment at each international airport to prevent visiting foreigners from bringing drugs in for their personal use. The extent to which the coastal watch programme and the airport teams are deployed cannot be verified and neither can their effectiveness when they are deployed.
According to the GOC, 89 per cent of all drugs seized were wash-ups, not from enforcement actions. Of this total, 89 per cent was marijuana and 11 per cent was cocaine. The GOC reported the seizure of 5,673 kilos of illicit narcotics in 2003, which included 5,160 kilos of marijuana, 506 kilos of cocaine, and 6.8 kilos of heroin and other synthetic drugs. Operation Hatchet III alone is reportedly responsible for the recovery of 5,119 4 kilos of illicit narcotics in Cuba in 2003.
BORDER GUARD
The Cuban Border Guard seized one go-fast boat with 437 kilos of marijuana onboard, after the vessel had mechanical problems while navigating in Cuban territorial waters in May 2003. The Cuban Border Guard also provided flight information to the U.S. Coast Guard that led to the interdiction of an aircraft and the seizure of 400 kilos of cocaine by U.S. and Bahamian law enforcement authorities in September 2003. The DNA provided information to the DEA that resulted in the dismantlement of a New York-based heroin smuggling ring. Cuban law enforcement authorities also broke up a Cuba-Curacao cocaine smuggling ring that resulted in the sentencing of nine Cuban and five Curacao nationals to 13 years to life in prison for narcotics trafficking. The GOC reported that 18 foreigners were arrested for narcotics trafficking in six separate cases with a total seizure of 17 kilos of cocaine and 6.8 kilos of heroin at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. The GOC also reported more than 200 foreign tourists were detained for possession of narcotics for personal consumption at Cuban international airports in 2003.
Sightings
Narcotics trafficking from Jamaica to Mexico, the Bahamas, Haiti, and to the U.S. normally occurs through Cuban territorial seas and airspace, with a majority of the narcotics trafficked via maritime routes inside the territorial waters of Cuba around the eastern and western tips and via air routes over the eastern side of the island. Cuban law enforcement authorities reported sightings of 69 suspect vessels (22 aircraft and 47 go-fast) in 2003 transiting their airspace or territorial waters, an increase from the 56 sightings in 2002. Small quantities of narcotics, carried by drug couriers or "mules", were trafficked via Cuba's international airports to and from Europe.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic (DR) is a major transit country for South American drugs, mostly cocaine and heroin, moving to the United States and Europe. The Government of the Dominican Republic (GODR) continued to co-operate closely with the U.S. in counternarcotics matters. Last year (2003) saw a decrease in heroin and MDMA (ecstasy) seizures, an increase in cocaine interceptions, and continued good results of the extradition process.
Seizures in 2003 continued to indicate that cocaine, heroin, and marijuana destined for the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, Europe were being transhipped through the DR and its territorial waters. Ecstasy seized in the DR was most often being transported from Europe to the U.S. Puerto Rican authorities noted a decrease in drug smuggling via the ferries operating between Puerto Rico and the DR, probably due to the presence of a newly established counternarcotics canine unit at the Santo Domingo ferry terminal. However, USG authorities noted a new trend toward use of illegal migrant boats (yolas) to smuggle drugs to Puerto Rico.
Seizure rate
The National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD) maintained its seizure rate, interdicting body-carried heroin and cocaine in the DR's international airports and larger quantities from vehicles and buildings. Through December 2003, with co-operation and assistance of the U.S. DEA, the DNCD seized 1,338 kilograms of cocaine, 59 kilograms of heroin, 51,965 units of MDMA (Ecstasy), and 1,174 pounds of marijuana. Puerto Rican authorities seized 2,039 kilograms of cocaine as a direct result of intelligence supplied by the DNCD and the Santo Domingo DEA office.
The Netherlands Antilles
The islands of the Netherlands Antilles (N.A.) (Curacao and Bonaire off Venezuela, and Saba, Saint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten east of the U.S. Virgin Islands) continue to serve as northbound transhipment points for cocaine and increasing amounts of heroin coming from South America; chiefly Colombia, Venezuela, and Suriname. These shipments typically are transported to U.S. territory in the Caribbean by go-fast boats although use of fishing boats, pleasure craft, freighters, and cruise ships is becoming more common. Direct transport to Europe, and at times to the U.S., is by "mules" (drug couriers) using commercial flights.
Evidence in 2003 did not support a finding that drugs now entering the U. S. from the N.A. are in an amount sufficient to have a significant effect on the United States, but the entire eastern and southern Caribbean is an area of U.S. concern.
The DEA and local law enforcement saw continued go-fast traffic last year, much of which moved to Sint Maarten en route to Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, there was a marked increase in sailing craft and larger vessels used to move multi-hundred kilogram shipments of cocaine clandestinely under the guise of recreational maritime traffic.
Body scanner
The 2002 crack-down on mules -- those who ingest or conceal illegal drugs on their bodies -- at Curacao's Hato International Airport continued during 2003 as part of the 'Zero Tolerance' anticrime campaign. Still, most of the traffic (estimated at 95 per cent) is destined for Europe. Since the inception of the "Hato Team" concept of interagency co-operation in April 2002, at least 10,000 persons have been denied boarding based on suspicion of drug trafficking under the GONA's legal authority to prevent disruption on air carriers. The GONA estimates that by the end of the year, drug-related arrests at the airport would have doubled to 2,400 from 1,200 in 2002. During 2003 there were at least seven assaults by gunfire on the airport "Hato Team."
Sint Maarten continued to detect increasing numbers of mules, mostly from Curacao, and improved its drug detection technology with Dutch assistance. There is almost a 100 per cent check on arrivals from Curacao resulting in 106 arrests from January through September of 2003. On September 24, 29 mules carrying a total of 410 kilos of cocaine were arrested on a single flight for Europe; several were central Europeans.
Ecstasy
Throughout the Antilles, ecstasy from the Netherlands is increasingly used to pay for cocaine. Sint Maarten seized 11,500 tablets on March 22; 11,500 tables on May 15; and in July, 70,600 tablets. In addition to go-fast activity and smuggling via commercial airlines, large quantities of narcotics moved through in shipping containers, as indicated by seizures from containers in 2003. Statistics on significant seizures in 2003 indicate that Dutch Sint Maarten poses a serious threat as a staging ground for moving cocaine and heroin into the U.S. market. There are no customs controls between the Dutch and French sides of the island and the international airport serving both is on the Dutch side.
In November 2003, law enforcement made its largest seizure ever, involving 2,345 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of heroin, and 15 kilograms of amphetamine after a sophisticated, lengthy investigation. One month earlier, police working with the Joint Coast Guard of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba (JCGNAA) seized 802 kilos of cocaine. These efforts, and other significant seizures, demonstrated the effectiveness of co-operation among law enforcement entities in the region. The local community supports the GONA's offensive against drugs.
Aruba
Aruba is a transhipment point for cocaine and increasing quantities of heroin moving north, mainly from Colombia, to the U.S. and secondarily to Europe. Drugs move north via cruise ships and the multiple daily flights to the U.S. and Europe. While the transhipment of heroin through the eastern and southern Caribbean is a growing concern to the U.S., evidence in 2003 did not support a finding that drugs entering from Aruba were in an amount sufficient to have a significant effect on the U.S. The island attracts drug traffickers with its good infrastructure, excellent flight connections, and light sentences for drug-related crimes, served in prisons with relatively good living conditions. Of concern to the GOA is the involvement of Aruban students in transporting drugs, mostly ecstasy, from the Netherlands to the islands or the U.S. While Aruba is, by any standard, a relatively crime-free island, Arubans worry about the easy availability of inexpensive drugs.
Eastern Caribbean
The seven Eastern Caribbean countries -- Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines -- form the eastern edge of the Caribbean transit zone for drugs, mostly cocaine and marijuana products, travelling from South America to the U.S. and other global markets. Approximately 30-35 metric tonnes of cocaine originate from, are destined for, or transit through the Eastern Caribbean (from Puerto Rico east and south) annually to the United States. Eight to nine times that amount transit the Eastern Caribbean to Europe annually. Illicit narcotics transit the Eastern Caribbean mostly by sea, in small go-fast vessels, larger fishing vessels, yachts and freight carriers. South American traffickers deliver drug loads either over the beach or offload their illicit cargo to smaller local vessels for delivery ashore. Marijuana shipments from St. Vincent often come ashore via swimmer-delivery. Smugglers also attempt to transport cocaine and marijuana by commercial air.
In one 2003 incident, a UK national "cocaine swallower" died from cocaine poisoning onboard a commercial aircraft that had not yet departed St. Lucia. An Organization of American States (OAS) study on maritime trafficking in the Western Hemisphere indicated that cocaine trafficked to Europe primarily is transported in commercial containerized cargo. There is little narcotics airdrop activity in the region.
Antigua and Barbuda
The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are transit sites for cocaine moving from South America to the U.S. and global markets. Some law enforcement officials believe that improved airport enforcement in Jamaica has prompted traffickers to seek other outbound locations in the Caribbean for transit by commercial air carrier. An increase in airport arrests in Antigua following installment of ion-scan equipment and implementation of modern profiling techniques indicates that this may be so. Reportedly, there are Colombian nationals in Antigua participating in trafficking operations. Narcotics entering Antigua and Barbuda are transferred mostly from go-fast boats, fishing vessels or yachts to other go-fasts, powerboats or local fishing vessels for delivery into Antigua and Barbuda. Secluded beaches and uncontrolled marinas provide excellent areas to conduct drug transfer operations. Marijuana cultivation on the islands is not significant. Marijuana imported for domestic consumption primarily comes from St. Vincent. Barbados
Barbados is a transit country for cocaine and marijuana products entering by sea and by air from South America and elsewhere in the region. Smaller vessels or go-fasts transport marijuana from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and cocaine from South America. There have been several instances in which passengers on flights originating in Jamaica were found with marijuana on arrival in Barbados. The GOB's penal system provides alternative sentencing options beyond prison and fines. The initiative allows community service orders, curfew orders, and other sentencing alternatives. The law was designed to reduce prison overcrowding and provide options for dealing with youthful offenders and drug-addicted criminals. The GOB plans to develop a drug court that will specialise in providing non-custodial sentences for drug offenders, where appropriate. Commonwealth of Dominica.
The Commonwealth of Dominica serves as a transhipment and temporary storage area for drugs, principally cocaine products, headed to the U.S. and to Europe, mostly via the French Departments of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Go-fast boats take shipments from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and elsewhere. In addition, marijuana is cultivated in Dominica. The Dominica police regularly conduct ground-based marijuana eradication missions in rugged, mountainous areas. In 2003, Dominican law enforcement agencies reported seizing 2.1 kilograms of cocaine and 44 kilograms of marijuana. They eradicated 160,000 marijuana plants (trees and seedlings), of which 32,000 were destroyed by the RSS in March 2003 as part of its basic training course. Dominica police arrested 284 person on drug-related charges. Dominican law permits the forfeiture of drug traffickers' assets. Police resource shortages and Dominica's difficult terrain make drug law enforcement investigations difficult. Based on the recommendation of the CARICOM Regional Task Force on Crime and Security, the Government of Dominica (GCOD) announced plans in 2003 to form a National Commission on Crime and Security. Grenada.
South American cocaine traffickers pass through or stop in Grenada's coastal waters and its often unpoliced islands and beaches to tranship cocaine en route to U.S. and other markets, including by drug couriers on commercial aircraft and via yachts. The traffickers often transfer cocaine to Grenadian vessels to execute deliveries ashore, as the Grenadian police have had some success in disrupting over-the-beach deliveries. Grenada's police drug squad dismantled a Trinidadian cocaine trafficking operation that used Grenada as a transhipment point in 2003. Relatively small amounts of marijuana are grown in Grenada. Marijuana is smuggled from St. Vincent for domestic use. Through August 2003, Grenadian authorities reported seizing approximately 40 kilograms of cocaine and 155 kilograms of marijuana. During that period, they arrested 456 persons (21 non-nationals) on drug-related charges and eradicated 3,434 marijuana plants. Grenadian law enforcement authorities seized nearly ECD 300,000 ($115,000) in connection with drug-related cases. The police drug squad has collaborated closely with DEA officials in the targeting and investigation of a local cocaine trafficking organization, which has associations with South American and other Caribbean traffickers.
St. Kitts and Nevis.
St. Kitts and Nevis is a transhipment site for cocaine from South America to the U.S. Drugs are transferred out of St. Kitts and Nevis primarily via small sailboats, fishing boats and go-fast boats bound for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Trafficking organisations operating in St. Kitts are linked directly to South American traffickers, some of whom reportedly are residing in St. Kitts, and to other organized crime groups. Marijuana is grown locally.
Since 1996, the USG has sought the extradition of two members of the Charles Miller trafficking organization. Miller surrendered to U.S. authorities in February 2000, and was convicted on felony trafficking charges in Florida in December 2000 and sentenced to life in prison. The UK Privy Council dismissed in June 2002 the appeal of Miller's associates against the upholding of their extradition by the St. Kitts High Court and remanded the case to the High Court for expeditious action. In 2003, both the High Court and subsequently the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court upheld the extradition. The defendants are appealing once again to the UK Privy Council. In the meantime, the two individuals -- Noel Heath and Glenroy Matthew -- who have been named Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, remain free on bail.
The high degree of drug trafficking activity through and around St. Kitts and Nevis and the presence of known, active traffickers in St. Kitts place this small country at great risk for corruption and money laundering activity. St. Lucia.
St. Lucia is a well-used transhipment site for cocaine from South America to the U.S. and Europe. Cocaine arrives in St. Lucia in go-fast boats, primarily from Venezuela, and is delivered over the beach or offloaded to smaller local vessels for delivery along the island's south or southwest coasts. Marijuana is smuggled from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and grown locally. Foreign and local narcotics traffickers are active in St. Lucia and have been known to stockpile cocaine and marijuana for onward shipment.
The Government of St. Lucia (GOSL) police reported seizing 433 kilograms of cocaine and 583 kilograms of marijuana through November 2003. They arrested 495 persons on drug charges and eradicated approximately 46,000 marijuana plants. The USG and the GOSL co-operate extensively on law enforcement matters. St. Lucia law permits asset forfeiture after conviction. The law directs the forfeited proceeds to be applied to treatment, rehabilitation, education and preventive measures related to drug abuse.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the largest producer of marijuana in the Eastern Caribbean and the source for much of the marijuana used in the region. Extensive tracts are under intensive marijuana cultivation in the inaccessible northern half of St. Vincent. The illegal drug trade has infiltrated the economy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and made some segments of the population dependent on marijuana production, trafficking and money laundering.
However, cultivation does not reach the minimum of 5,000 hectares that the FAA requires for a country to be designated as a major drug-producer, nor does it significantly affect the U.S. As such, despite the pervasive influence of the drug trade, the President has not designated St. Vincent and the Grenadines as a major illicit drug-producing or a major drug transit country under the FAA. Compressed marijuana is sent from St. Vincent and the Grenadines to neighbouring islands via private vessels. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has also become a storage and transhipment point for narcotics, mostly cocaine, transferred from Trinidad and Tobago and South America on go-fast and inter-island cargo boats.
Through November 2003, Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (GOSVG) officials reported seizing 1.5 kilograms of cocaine and approximately 1,700 kilograms of marijuana. They arrested 340 persons on drug-related charges and eradicated approximately 36,000 marijuana plants. The police, Customs and Coast Guard try to control the rugged terrain and adjacent sea of St. Vincent and the chain of islands making up the Grenadines. Their reaction capability is limited, but the SVG Coast Guard performance should improve as a result of receiving from INL two new go-fast interceptors.
French Caribbean/French Guiana
French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, the French side of St. Martin, and St. Barthelemy, are all part of France, and subject to French law, including all international conventions signed by France. With the resources of France behind them, the French Caribbean Departments and French Guiana are meeting the goals and objectives of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. The Police Judiciaire, Gendarmerie, and French Customs Service together play a major role in narcotics law enforcement in France's overseas departments, just as they do in the other parts of France. South American cocaine may move through the French Caribbean and from French Guiana to Europe and, to a lesser extent, to the U.S. Although evidence in 2003 did not support a finding that drugs entering the U.S. from the French Caribbean had a significant effect on the U.S., the U.S. considers the broad geographical area of the eastern and southern Caribbean, of which the French Caribbean is a part, as an area of concern to be kept under observation. A small amount of cannabis is cultivated in French Guiana.
Guyana
Guyana is a transhipment point for South American cocaine destined for North America and Europe. There is insufficient evidence, however, that the cocaine entering the U.S. from Guyana is in an amount sufficient to have a significant effect on the U.S. The economic, political, and social conditions in Guyana make it a prime target, however, for narcotics traffickers to expand their illicit activities. The transit of narcotics through Guyana has led to increasing domestic use. Although nominally committed to counternarcotics enforcement, the Government of Guyana (GOG) was distracted in the first half of 2003 by a political stalemate and a critical crime threat, some of which was reportedly linked to drug-trafficking activities.
Guyana's ineffective drug interdiction capability makes the country a relatively safe route for cocaine trafficking from South America to the U.S. and Europe.
Limited
In 2003, law enforcement activity was limited to numerous arrests of individuals with small amounts of marijuana, crack cocaine or powder cocaine on charges of possession of drugs or possession with intent to distribute drugs. The GPF Narcotics Branch and Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit continued to arrest drug couriers at Guyana's international airport en route to the U.S. or Europe. It is noteworthy that the great majority of such arrests have been of foreigners, although most travellers are Guyanese. GOG officials believe that GOG counternarcotics agencies interdict only a small percentage of the cocaine and coca paste that transits Guyana.
Cocaine flows into and out of Guyana through its porous borders and along its coast. Numerous airstrips in the mostly inaccessible interior are likely used to facilitate trafficking from Venezuela and Colombia. Once inside the country, narcotics are carried to Georgetown by road, waterway, or air, and then on to the U.S. or Europe via commercial carriers, either directly or through intermediate Caribbean ports. In 2003, high-profile seizures in the UK, Canada, Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, and the U.S. involved drugs originating in Guyana.
Haiti
Haiti's geographical position, weak institutions, and subsistence economy have made it a key conduit for drug traffickers transporting cocaine from South America to the United States and, to a lesser degree, Canada and Europe. The Haitian National Police (HNP) lacks discipline and is riddled with corruption. The judicial system is equally weak, its prosecutors and judges susceptible to bribes and intimidation.
The Government of Haiti (GOH) made slow progress toward implementation of the May 2002 counternarcotics Letter of Agreement with the United States. A new facility for the Haitian Coast Guard (HCG) in Cap Haitien was completed and staffed. However, operational funding remained inadequate. The Bureau de Lutte contre le Trafic Illicite de Stupefiants (BLTS), the counternarcotics unit of the HNP, restricted to the capital by lack of transport resources, did little without DEA leadership and involvement.
Corruption
Corruption, weak law enforcement capability, and lack of GOH commitment combined to limit co-operation in general, although Haitian officials have co-operated in some specific cases. The GOH's major achievement was its expulsion of four drug traffickers, including the notorious Jacques Beaudoin Ketant, to the U.S. for prosecution. Haiti's ongoing political and economic crises continued to grip the country in 2003, eclipsing the fight against drug trafficking. Serious allegations persisted that high-level government and police officials are involved in drug trafficking.
Haiti remains highly susceptible to money laundering due to its weak legal system and pervasive corruption. The money laundering law passed in 2002 has not been implemented. The anti-money laundering commission finally submitted candidate lists for Director General and deputy DG to the President and the Minister of Justice.
The political disconnect between supporters and opponents of President Aristide deepened in 2003 and took on violent overtones. The economy remained stalled and attracted little foreign investment, and trafficking in drugs and aliens remained one of the few reliable avenues to wealth. The currency fluctuated around 40 to one against the dollar. Fuel price controls were lifted just before January 2003, doubling prices overnight and affecting law enforcement's ability to conduct operations.
DEA pressure
On October 5, 2003, a twin-engine Aztec aircraft landed near Cap-Haitien and offloaded 500 kilograms of cocaine. Officials refused to take action to apprehend three traffickers lodged at the Continental Hotel until DEA pressure forced their arrest. Witnesses have often observed light aircraft landing with drug cargoes on Route 9 in Port-au-Prince. Typically, HNP officers will block traffic and help with off-loading and ground transport.
There were no joint large-scale U.S.-Haiti law enforcement counternarcotics operations in 2003 in part because of the disappointing results of Operation Hurricane in 2002.
Haitian drug trafficking organisations continue to operate with relative impunity. The arrival of cocaine from South America is generally unimpeded, due to the HNP's lack of human and material resources. Haiti's roads are very poor, and the HNP has no air assets. The HCG has no presence on the south coast and, even with assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard, its ability to patrol in other areas is limited by frequent vessel breakdowns. The BLTS has no permanent presence outside Port-au-Prince and no effective means of transport. The GOH does not provide the HCG or BLTS, the counternarcotics unit of the Haitian National Police, with necessary equipment, maintenance, or logistical support.
Uncontrolled
The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince estimates that the flow of cocaine through Haiti has continued to increase, with some cocaine going to the U.S. through the Dominican Republic, whose 225-mile (360 km) border with Haiti is largely uncontrolled. Approximately 8 per cent of the cocaine destined for the U.S. transited Haiti and/or the Dominican Republic. Cocaine arrives in the country by maritime or air conveyances. Traffickers forward these shipments onward using maritime vessels or over land to the Dominican Republic. During 2003, United States authorities seized drugs concealed on five different commercial vessels arriving in Miami from Haitian ports, totalling 1,214 pounds of cocaine.
Suriname
Suriname is a transhipment point for cocaine originating in South America destined primarily for Europe and, to a lesser extent, the U.S. Suriname is also used to tranship MDMA (ecstasy) from Europe to the U.S. In May 2003, Surinamese law enforcement, for the first time, seized an ecstasy lab, along with considerable amounts of precursor chemicals, indicating that MDMA is also being produced in Suriname. However, evidence available in 2003 did not support a finding that drugs entering the U.S. from Suriname were in an amount sufficient to have a significant effect on the U.S. The GOS is unable to detect the diversion of precursor chemicals for drug production, as it has no legislation controlling precursor chemicals.
The lack of resources, limited law enforcement capabilities, along with inadequate legislation, drug-related corruption, and a complicated and time-consuming bureaucracy, inhibit the GOS's ability to identify, apprehend, and prosecute narcotics traffickers. In addition, Suriname's sparsely populated jungle interior together with weak border controls and infrastructure make narcotics detection and interdiction efforts difficult.
Arrests
In 2003, GOS law enforcement made numerous arrests at the international airport of passengers, primarily on the five weekly flights to Amsterdam, who had either ingested or were carrying drugs on their bodies or in luggage. Many who evade detection in Suriname are arrested at the airport in Amsterdam.
As GOS Customs agents and Military Police have no investigative function, they tend to focus on individual smugglers and couriers rather than the organized trafficking kingpins and their networks, relying primarily on profiling and tips from informants. In March, however, the KPS established a special unit within the police force to investigate, in co-operation with Dutch law enforcement, drug organisations that actively smuggle drugs between Suriname and Holland.
In May, the KPS Narcotics Brigade discovered the first-ever MDMA-producing lab in Suriname, along with 80 kilograms of MDMA and considerable amounts of precursor chemicals. The seizure resulted from a one-year joint investigation conducted by the KPS and Dutch authorities. The lab reportedly was capable of producing 500,000 tablets per day, which preliminary evidence suggests were destined for the U.S. Five Surinamese and two Dutch nationals were arrested in connection with the seizure.
Vetted unit
In November, the KPS vetted unit seized 341 kilograms of cocaine from a clandestine airstrip in western Suriname. Six of the 12 suspects arrested in connection with the seizure were subsequently released, however, due to insufficient evidence. In December, the KPS developed and passed to European authorities information regarding a cocaine shipment concealed in a container freighter that had departed Suriname for Europe, which resulted in the seizure of the drugs by Portuguese law enforcement. In 2003, the GOS seized 814.25 kilograms of cocaine and 119.345 kilograms of cannabis, and arrested 479 people for drug-related offences.
According to a GOS official, members of the Colombian terrorist group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), are present in Suriname to co-ordinate arms-for-drugs activities. KPS officials confirmed that weapons that had been stolen from a Surinamese police training centre in 1998 were retrieved by Colombian police during a 2003 raid on FARC operatives. In October, the KPS seized approximately 40,000 rounds of AK-47 ammunition suspected to be connected to an arms-for-drugs deal. Seven people were arrested, including three Colombians who were in Suriname illegally.
Drop zones
Much of the cocaine entering Suriname is dropped by small aircraft on clandestine airstrips or "drop zones" located throughout the dense jungle interior where the lack of resources, infrastructure, law enforcement personnel and equipment makes detection and interdiction difficult. Following drug drops along interior roads and clandestine airstrips, the drugs are shipped to the ports from the interior via numerous river routes to the sea and overland for onward shipment to Caribbean islands, Europe and the U.S. Drugs exit Suriname via commercial air flights (by drug couriers or secreted in planes) and by commercial sea cargo. European-produced MDMA is transported via four weekly flights from the Netherlands to Suriname; drug couriers then transport the drugs to the U.S. on flights to Miami, via Curacao.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago is a transit country for narcotics from South America to the U.S. and Europe. Evidence is insufficient, however, to establish that the quantity of drugs transiting Trinidad and Tobago has a significant effect on the U.S. Cannabis is grown in Trinidad and Tobago, but production falls below the threshold for designating the country as a major drug-producing country under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended. Trinidad and Tobago has a vibrant petrochemical economy with the potential for the diversion of precursor chemicals for drug production. Trinidad and Tobago's growing economy, with a well-developed banking sector, communications and transportation systems, facilitates a significant number of sizeable financial transactions that can obscure money laundering.
The TTDF Coast Guard, OCNU, CDCTF, and specialised policy/army task forces continued to carry out drug interdiction and eradication operations throughout the year, sometimes in co-operation with DEA and U.S. Customs. Numerous GOTT eradication operations resulted in the eradication of 2.1 million cannabis plants and seedlings. In 2003, the GOTT seized 149 kilograms of cocaine, 31 kilograms of heroin, and 560 kilograms of cannabis. The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), with DEA assistance, was able to interdict several shipments of cocaine being transported via commercial flights, either in transit from Guyana or originating in Trinidad and Tobago.
Proximity
Illicit drugs arrive from the South American mainland, particularly Venezuela because of its proximity, primarily on small, fast fishing boats. Drugs also arrive on pleasure craft and commercial aircraft. The drugs are then smuggled out on yachts, in air cargo, and by couriers. Cocaine has been found on airline flights from Guyana transiting Trinidad and Tobago en route to North America. Narcotics seizures reported by U.S. law enforcement officials at JFK International Airport and intelligence indicate that Guyanese-based smuggling organisations are increasingly using Trinidad and Tobago as a transhipment point for cocaine. DEA believes there has been a slight increase in the amount of heroin transiting Trinidad and Tobago. Some shipments are bypassing Trinidad and Tobago, however, in favour of other islands, due in large part to the counternarcotics efforts of GOTT security forces.
