The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), has charged 13 defendants with cocaine importation and related weapons offenses. These charges are linked to their involvement in a large-scale cocaine trafficking operation facilitated by corrupt Bahamian government officials, including high-ranking members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF).
Among those arrested were Chief Superintendent Elvis Nathaniel Curtis of the RBPF and Chief Petty Officer Darrin Alexander Roker of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), both of whom were taken into custody on Monday in Florida. They made their initial appearances in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida the following afternoon. Additionally, Lorielmo Steele-Pomare and William Simeon were arrested overseas on Monday, and Luis Fernando Orozco-Toro was apprehended yesterday.
As alleged, Curtis is an RBPF Chief Superintendent who supervises airport locations throughout The Bahamas, including the Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau (the “Nassau Airport”), which is the largest airport in The Bahamas. In exchange for bribes made by drug traffickers, Curtis has abused his official position to, among other things, provide safe passage for cocaine shipments through airports in The Bahamas, with the assistance of other corrupt officials such as RBPF Sergeant Prince Albert Symonette. For instance, on or about October 18, 2023, Curtis and Symonette each accepted approximately $10,000 in bribe payments as a down payment for their assistance in what they understood to be an upcoming 600-kilogram cocaine shipment to The Bahamas through the Nassau Airport, for eventual distribution to the U.S. Additionally, in or about September 2024, Curtis explained that, in exchange for a $2 million bribe, a high-ranking Bahamian politician that Curtis named would authorize the assistance and involvement of armed RBPF officials to facilitate incoming cocaine shipments. Curtis and Roker also discussed abusing their official positions to transport drug proceeds from cocaine sales in the U.S. back to The Bahamas, including with Bahamian government and military aircraft.
Other corrupt Bahamian officials, such as Roker, a Chief Petty Officer in the RBDF, have facilitated maritime drug trafficking activities through The Bahamas and into the U.S. by providing sensitive information about U.S. Coast Guard and DEA-led OPBAT operations to alert drug traffickers, in exchange for bribes. Riccardo Adolphus Davis also purports to be an official in the Bahamian government who used his influence with corrupt Bahamian government officials to authorize drug trafficking facilitated by RBPF officials.
Drug traffickers who work with the RBPF and other Bahamian officials coordinate closely with pilots to fly their U.S.-bound cocaine shipments from Central and South America into The Bahamas. These pilots also work for various Bahamian private charter companies that provide flight services to Bahamian citizens and foreign tourists who are visiting The Bahamas.
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment
Since at least May 2021, drug traffickers have smuggled tons of cocaine through The Bahamas for importation into the U.S. with the help and support of corrupt Bahamian government officials. The Bahamas has in recent years become an increasingly important transshipment point for U.S.-bound cocaine. This is a result, in part, of its proximity to the U.S., as the northernmost Bahamian islands are less than 100 nautical miles from the coast of Florida, making The Bahamas an attractive route for
