Airport Drug Probe Expanding:

By Candia Dames -
Nassau, Bahamas:

More arrests could follow in the investigation into drug trafficking through Lynden Pindling International Airport, according to US Ambassador to The Bahamas John Rood.

Ambassador Rood says in a letter to the editor published today that there was a "reasonable basis" to arrest the five baggage handlers, who were taken into custody in Florida recently.

The baggage handlers are suspected of trafficking illegal narcotics to the United States through the Lynden Pindling International Airport. Their arrests have sparked great debate over whether the Bahamian government colluded with the US government in getting them out of The Bahamas.

The arrests have also raised concerns about whether proper procedures were followed, and whether Bahamian law was respected in the process.

Other individuals have been arrested in The Bahamas and will be tried here, according to the ambassador.

Responding to allegations that the baggage handlers had been lured into the United States or kidnapped, Mr. Rood said, "They entered US territory on their own volition, and were not kidnapped, whisked away, or any of the other vivid, but inaccurate descriptions I have seen in the media."

He continued, "Any American citizen or any foreign national who violates US laws and is physically present in the United States is subject to arrest. In the same way, if an American citizen was wanted in The Bahamas for violations of your country’s laws and entered your territory, you would expect your law enforcement authorities to arrest that individual."

Ambassador Rood reiterated that the men arrested will have the same rights as any American citizen – they will be presumed innocent until proven guilty, they will have the right to an attorney and they will receive a fair trial.

"Any suggestion that there is no presumption of innocence in the US is simply wrong," he said. "The presumption of innocence is an inviolable element of US law, just as it is here in The Bahamas. The individuals arrested and charged have, however, been arrested because of compelling evidence that they were involved in drug trafficking to our shores. A court of law will determine whether that evidence warrants a conviction."

Meanwhile, the Free National Movement continued to express concerns this week over the whole matter.

"It seems clear in this case that any evidence to support charges of drug trafficking through our airport must be evidence gathered in The Bahamas relating to offences allegedly committed in The Bahamas," the FNM said in a statement.

"So it must be the clear duty of the Royal Bahamas Police Force to arrest the alleged offenders and to bring them before courts in The Bahamas for trial in accordance with our laws.

"The Government of The Bahamas would be in gross dereliction of its duty if it caused anything other than that to be done, especially if it connived with others surreptitiously to render Bahamian suspects to another jurisdiction for arrest and trial. And that is precisely what we accuse the PLP Government of doing in this case."

The statement added, "The FNM can accept that not all ministers of the government were aware of this operation, but certainly, if conducted in accordance with the law, those who did know must include the minister responsible for the police, the minister responsible for foreign relations and the ministers responsible for the Lynden Pindling International Airport and for prosecution."

When she appeared on the Love 97 programme "Issues of the Day" on Tuesday, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson denied any government collusion in the arrests of the five Bahamian baggage handlers in the United States.

In fact, she said the government did not know of the arrests until after they had taken place.

"There is not one scintilla of evidence and it is strongly refuted that the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas was in any way complicit in any illegal activity, any collusion, any luring, any entrapment," she said.

5 January 2006