Speeches

Counter Narcotics Joint Task Force Meeting

December 16, 2005

Thank you, Minister Mitchell.
 
I am honored to address this, my second, Joint Task Force Meeting.  I am pleased to be joined by the U.S. delegation that includes the Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Brent Hardt; Admiral Brian Peterman, Commander of the Coast Guard's Seventh District; Mark Trouville, DEA Special Agent in Charge - Miami; Robert Knotts, SOUTHCOM's Deputy Director of J-33; William Bent - Washington Western Hemisphere Affairs; Kevin Brown, Desk Officer, International Law Enforcement Bureau; and members of the Embassy's Law Enforcement Team led by our DEA Agent In Charge Kevin Stanfill.
 
I appreciate the continued strong commitment of the Government of The Bahamas to our joint counternarcotics efforts.  These efforts have resulted in significant achievements in our shared fight against drug trafficking throughout The Bahamas.  It was not that long ago that the bulk of the cocaine entering the U.S. came through The Bahamas.  Today our experts tell us that less than ten percent of cocaine entering U.S. enters through The Bahamas.  This dramatic decline demonstrates what can be achieved when our countries join forces in the face of a common threat.  Now, while we should be pleased with our successes, we must also look at the challenges we face moving forward. 
 
One little-told story that I would like to highlight is our Embassy's extensive training initiatives in upgrading the capabilities of Bahamian law enforcement and defense personnel. 
Since the beginning of 2005, The United States has funded more than four million dollars worth of training for more than 900 officials encompassing over 20,000 man-hours.  The recipients of this training have included members of the RBDF, RBPF, Customs and Immigration. 
 
My goal is to continue the U.S. government's commitment to provide training and technical assistance.  Such training, I believe, is the best means to strengthen the capability of our Bahamian law enforcement partners.  In short, training provides knowledge, expertise and boosts to morale that pay dividends long after the training ends.  I would welcome your input into the types of training that would be most beneficial to your organizations.       
        
As I noted at the outset, OPBAT is one of the true success stories in the war on drugs and is a model for multilateral cooperation that is now being emulated in other parts of the world.  This success does come at a price.  The U.S. government spends more than thirty million dollars a year in support of OPBAT.  This funding comes from a number of different U.S. agencies, each of which faces its own funding constraints. 
 
For example, our State Department's Narcotics Affairs Section faced the prospect of a loss of half our funding in FY 2005.  Our common interventions in Washington -- including a forceful presentation by Minister Mitchell -- helped turn this around.
 
This ongoing budgetary pressure requires that we continually examine how we fight narcotics trafficking in The Bahamas.  We must be prepared to justify our use of resources and assets to the decision makers in Washington.
Our success in reducing the flow of cocaine through The Bahamas to less than ten percent leads some to argue that The Bahamas no longer requires U.S. attention and resources.  We know that should we reduce our vigilance, The Bahamas could once again become the preferred route for drug traffickers looking for the easiest way to move their goods from South America to the U.S. 
 
I will continue to make the case that we cannot afford to let our guard down here, but I also need to be able to make the case that we are making the best use possible of the resources at hand.
 
We must continue to adapt in the face of new challenges whether they be drugs trafficked by fast boats from Colombia, sloops from Haiti or cargo containers.  Drug traffickers are not standing still, they change.  They find gaps in our defenses and exploit them. 
We must stay ahead of them, looking honestly at our strengths and weaknesses and changing the way we do business when necessary.
 
Any organization that stands still will be overtaken.  OPBAT is no different.  We have to be flexible in deploying our assets.  As traffickers move their operations to different locations, we must reevaluate where we base our assets.  As they change tactics, we must change ours.  We want the Bahamian government to be full partners in this process.  To assist you, we are committed to providing training and capacity building so, going forward, The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos can carry on more of our joint counternarcotics mission.   
 
I would like to briefly mention the issue of illegal migration.  It is appropriate that we discuss this issue here, as migrant traffickers often move illegal narcotics along with their migrant passengers. 
 
Coast Guard assets have played a key role in interdicting both illegal migrants and narcotics heading to The Bahamas and to the U.S.  Illegal migration creates great economic costs to the Bahamian government.
 
I hope that by openly discussing the challenges we face today we can work together to find the best, most cost efficient and effective way, to defeat our common drug-trafficking threat.  This is a fight we cannot afford to lose.  It wasn't that long ago that The Bahamas was synonymous with cocaine trafficking.  It is our combined task to ensure that this never occurs again.
 
I am confident that, with the leadership of the people in this room today, we will together meet this challenge. 
 
Thank you.