Speeches

"Close Partners in the War on Drugs"

Editorial by Ambassador John Darrell Rood

23 September 2005

     For more than twenty years, The Bahamas has been one of the United States closest and most successful allies in the fight against illegal narcotics trafficking.   Our partnership against drugs began in earnest in the 1980s when an estimated eighty percent of the cocaine bound for the United States passed through the Caribbean corridor.  Today thanks to our common efforts, that number is down to approximately seven percent.  This reduction could never have occurred without the strong support of successive Bahamian governments.

      On September 15, President Bush released an annual report to the U.S. Congress identifying countries the United States determined to be major drug producers or drug-transit points, the so-called "majors list."  Some commentators have expressed the understandable concern that The Bahamas was included in this list despite its outstanding cooperation.  This categorization should not, however, be seen as a criticism of the Bahamian Government and its excellent law enforcement cooperation.  Rather, it is simply an objective determination of which countries in the world produce drugs or through which drugs pass on their way to the United States.

     It is no coincidence that our closest southern neighbors, Mexico and The Bahamas, appear year after year on the list of major drug transit countries.  Traffickers look for the shortest, most convenient routes to move their illicit products.  The Bahamas inclusion on the “majors” list reflects the reality of its location between the South American suppliers and North American consumers of cocaine and the continued flow of a substantial – even if greatly reduced – amount of illegal narcotics.

     Beyond this objective assessment, the President’s report also determines whether or not drug transit or producing countries fully cooperate with the United States to fight drugs.  This is the most important element of the report, and I am pleased to point out that The Bahamas was certified as “fully cooperating” with the United States. 

     In fact, The Bahamas was singled out for praise by the State Department's highest-ranking counter-narcotics official, Nancy Powell, who pointed out that  “…the police in the Bahamas have a superb record in terms of dismantling drug trafficking organizations.”  Since 2001, she added, “the Bahamas has stopped the illegal activities of three major drug rings, an accomplishment which resulted in the arrest of hundreds of criminals in the Bahamas as well as in the United States.”

     While the cooperation of our international partners is vital to reducing the supply of illegal drugs, the United States also recognizes that American demand for cocaine fuels trafficking.  That is why we have devoted increasing resources to treatment and prevention programs.  Forty percent of all federal government drug spending, $4.5 billion, goes directly to prevention and treatment programs.  State and local governments spend similar amounts on prevention and treatment. 

     These efforts have brought results:  the United States has seen a seventeen percent reduction in illicit drug use since 2001.  The Office of National Drug Control Policy has set the goal of an additional twenty-five percent reduction in illicit drug use over the next five years.

     The inescapable fact is that combating the drug trade requires a global effort.  It requires that we work together in common purpose.  The United States is committed to taking action in close cooperation with friendly governments against drug trafficking and against the criminal activities that are linked to it.  Meeting this challenge to our political, economic, social and cultural well being requires an integrated approach that combines eradication with interdiction, alternative development, criminal justice modernization, anti-corruption measures, and demand reduction and awareness programs.

       Our countries have made great progress, working together through Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) in the fight against illicit drugs.  The United States contributes nearly $30 million a year to OPBAT, which, last year, interdicted over 1,700 kilos of cocaine and 5,500 kilos of marijuana.    I look forward to continuing this successful cooperation in the coming years to further reduce the drug trafficking threat to our countries.