Speeches
Remarks by Charge d'Affaires Timothy Zuniga-Brown
Joint Counternarcotics/Illegal Migration Task Force Meeting
February 27, 2009, 10:00 a.m.
Paul Farquharson Conference Centre
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs the Honorable Brent Symonette, Ministry of National Security, the Honorable Tommy Turnquest, distinguished representatives of the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, and honored colleagues from U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo, I am pleased to join you for the first time at the semi-annual Joint Counternarcotics/Illegal Migration Task Force Meeting. Over the years, these meetings have set the tone for the extraordinary cooperation between our countries as we fight the threats of narcotics and migrant smuggling to The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands and into the United States.
Working together we have made remarkable progress in our fight against narcotics and migrant smuggling. I look forward to contributing to and continuing this process. We have made much progress, many challenges remain. Before we begin our discussion of the challenges ahead of us, I would like to reflect upon some of the successes of the past year. The Joint Task Force's tradition of excellent cooperation in Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) continued in 2008 as law enforcement agencies of The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands, along with United States government partners seized over eighteen hundred kilograms of cocaine and twelve metric tons of marijuana. These seizures directly impact narcotics smugglers' bottom line and are critical to our efforts to safeguard our countries from the dangers of illicit narcotics trafficking.
While our mission has traditionally focused on narcotics trafficking, increasing illegal migration, particularly through the Windward Pass has underscored the importance of our continued anti-migrant efforts. The United States Coast Guard, with the assistance of "ship rider" representatives from Bahamian and Turks and Caicos law enforcement, continued to intercept illegal migrants attempting to reach or transit through The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos islands. Recently, the United States has made great strides in increasing information sharing amongst the Coast Guard, Border Patrol, DEA and other agencies working to stem the flow of illegal migrants into the United States through an internal Embassy working group. We hope to expand these channels of communication to our partners in The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos in order to better coordinate our efforts.
In 2008, the United States expanded its commitment to drug and migrant interdiction in Bahamian territorial waters with the provisioning of four Nor-Tech "fast-boats" to the Royal Bahamian Defense Force under Southern Command's Operation Enduring Friendship. The boats, communication equipment, and training provided through this program have enhanced the RBDF's ability to interdict smugglers running drugs and migrants to and through The Bahamas. The Bahamian government's commitment to acquire additional air and marine assets for the Defense Force and the police's Marine Unit is especially laudable and will expand our joint capabilities further.
We are committed to ensuring the deployment of these assets is coordinated to achieve success in our fight against drug and migrant smugglers. To that end, the United States will continue to provide operational training and inter-operable communications equipment to our partners in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos law enforcement communities. For some time, we have recognized the smuggling and maritime safety threat posed by unregulated Haitian sailing vessels. The Bahamian government's decision to enforce a ban on these so called "wooden-hulled sloops" was a welcome development. The marked reduction in the number of these poorly equipped vessels operating in Bahamian waters has allowed the Coast Guard and the RBDF to focus their resources on other smuggling threats and has lessened the opportunity for maritime tragedies. Continued vigorous enforcement of the ban will deny smugglers the use of this avenue to transport drugs and illegal migrants in The Bahamas.
One challenge, and opportunity, I would like to mention concerns the strategically located island of Great Inagua. As many of you are aware, Prime Minister Ingraham raised the issue of developing Great Inagua's potential last year in a meeting with former President Bush. We too see Great Inagua's potential as a platform for law enforcement operations.
As the recent seizure in Great Inagua of over eight hundred kilograms of cocaine demonstrates, Great Inagua is optimally located for interdicting smugglers transiting Bahamian waters. Though our partners in the Turks and Caicos have been excellent hosts since Hurricane Ike forced the Coast Guard to relocate its helicopters to Providenciales, we are eager to return to Great Inagua and rebuild and improve the island's infrastructure. Electrical and communications upgrades are critical and future operations will require improvements to the runway and harbor facilities.
Clearly, we have a lot of work ahead of us. But, before our countries move ahead with such a large investment, we must agree on a plan for the long-term use and development of Great Inagua as well as insure that we do, indeed, have the will to bring to bear the resources, both money and manpower, required to take advantage of this opportunity. We are very pleased to see that Great Inagua is on our agenda today and I am looking forward to hearing the Bahamian government's plans for the island.
The challenges we face today include determined, sophisticated criminal organizations willing to do anything to get their products to market, technology that nimble criminals can exploit before law enforcement can take countermeasures, and vast expanses of land and sea that even with the additional assets I previously mentioned, will be very difficult to cover fully. These challenges make it imperative that we continue to work collectively and intelligently. This meeting is an opportunity to address today's challenges while also planning for future cooperation in the fight against drug and migrant smuggling.
I look forward to hearing from all of you.
Thank you.