Trump's 'very bad' Bahamian drug dealers? U.S. data shows little evidence
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 / 5:10 PM / UPDATED 26 MINUTES AGO
Trump's 'very bad' Bahamian drug dealers? U.S. data shows little evidence
Brad Brooks
5 MIN READ
(Reuters) - President Donald Trumps concern the United States could open its doors to very bad drug dealers by easing immigration rules for the storm-hit Bahamas is undercut by administration data showing the Caribbean plays a small role in the narcotics trade.
The era of the 1980s Cocaine Cowboys, who used speedboats to ferry vast amounts of that drug into South Florida from the Caribbean, has long since passed in large part because of the cooperation between the United States and nations including the Bahamas.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agencys most recent assessment of drug trafficking mentions the Bahamas only once in its more than 150 pages, and indeed raises concerns about more potent marijuana flowing from the continental United States to the Caribbean.
There are an extremely small number of people in the Bahamas involved in the level of criminality Trump was talking about, particularly drug trafficking, said Charles Katz, an Arizona State University criminology professor who has worked extensively in the Caribbean, including advising nations on how to fight crime.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-dorian-bahamas-drugs/trumps-very-bad-bahamian-drug-dealers-u-s-data-shows-little-evidence-idUSKCN1VV2O7