Bahamas Police seized $12.3 million worth of cocaine during two separate operations over the weekend, authorities confirmed.
On Saturday evening, two men were arrested on Cat Island after they were found with $7.8 million worth of cocaine, police said yesterday.
“It was a joint operation involving drug enforcement officers, DEA, and local officers on Cat Island,” Head of the Drug Enforcement Unit Superintendent Wendy Pearson said yesterday at Odyssey Aviation.
“While onboard a US helicopter on the southern tip of Cat Island, [we] observed two males in low-lying bushes along with a number or crocus sacks.
“As a result of that, the officers landed where they proceeded into the low-lying bushes where they detained two males.
“They then checked those crocus sacks [and] discovered that each of those sacks contained a number of kilo packages of suspected cocaine.”
Pearson said the men, ages 42 and 37, were arrested and taken to New Providence. The drugs weighed 359 kilograms.
Then, on Sunday, police, Customs officers and US officials searched a container at a shipping port in Grand Bahama and found $4.5 million worth of cocaine. No arrests were made in that matter. The drugs weighed 181 kilograms.
According to US officials, cocaine seizures in the region have increased since 2021. In The Bahamas, between 2017 and 2020, police seized 2,461.37 pounds of cocaine. Between 2021 and 2024, that figure jumped to 13,479.36 pounds.
Last month, during his confirmation hearing to become US ambassador to The Bahamas, Herschel Walker said the rise in smuggling in The Bahamas poses a significant threat to the United States. He said tackling the growing problem requires cooperation between the Bahamian and US governments.
Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe has pushed back against Walker’s concerns about increased drug smuggling, noting that drug interdictions have risen since 2021. He added that the Davis administration recently equipped the force with four go-fast interceptor boats to combat illegal activity.
In 2024, 11 Bahamians, including three senior Bahamian law enforcement officers, were indicted in the US on charges of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, possession and use of firearms, and firearms conspiracy.
“The increase in cocaine flow through The Bahamas has been a direct result of drug-fueled corruption that has infected various Bahamian institutions,” the indictment states.
“More specifically, since at least in or about May 2021, corrupt high ranking members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and other Bahamian government officials have worked with Colombian and Bahamian drug traffickers to facilitate the receipt, protection and safe passage of massive cocaine shipments through the airports and ports of The Bahamas.”
Though the three officers were arrested in the US and are now awaiting trial, no investigation was launched in The Bahamas.
