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However, I did meet another person, John Upston, a political appointee in ARA [the Bureau of American Republic Affairs] who had the title of "Caribbean Coordinator", a Deputy Assistant Secretary level position.He apparently had a lot of experience in the Caribbean area and had worked in the State Department, off and on, over the years.We struck up a friendship.The chemistry between us was good.He was very interested in what I had to say about what I was seeing in the Bahamas.We were able to set up a dialogue, both by phone and when he came down and visited us on several occasions.He was very sympathetic about what I was trying to do.It turned out that he and I--and I'll get into this later in the story--managed to get past the bureaucracy in getting permission to do something effective in the drug war in the Bahamas. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I finally managed to get down to Norman's Cay because the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] would fly in from Florida from time to time to do what they called "ramp checks." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The FAA would fly into an airport and just check the registration numbers on the aircraft there.They checked on U. S. registered aircraft parked at airports in the Bahamas.You could tell very easily which ones were being used for "drug hauls"--they didn't have seats in them or might have rubber fuel bladders in the back instead of seats.What the drug traffickers would do was use all manner of aircraft, initially flying in marijuana and then, of course, transporting large amounts of cocaine. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Yachts were coming through all the time.The Bahamas is a major tourist cruising area.From time to time people would tell me stories about drug trafficking.A cabin cruiser or something like that might observe a DC-3 transport aircraft dump out hundreds of bales of marijuana.The traffickers used to wrap the marijuana in garbage bags in 40 and 80 pound quantities.The bags would be water tight and would float only about an inch or so above the surface of the ocean.The bags were green and hard to see.One person told me that he was on his boat, sailing toward Nassau.He saw a DC-3 circling a nearby area and pushing out bales of marijuana.The crew then "pancaked" the aircraft in the water, stepped out on the wing, were picked up by motorboats, which then picked up the marijuana and let the plane sink.He said, if that happened, you really didn't want to be there.Three things might happen, if you came across this stuff floating in the ocean.First, the "dopers" [marijuana smugglers] could catch you, and you'd be in trouble.Secondly, the American Coast Guard could catch you.Thirdly, the Bahamian Coast Guard could catch you.Any way, you'd be in trouble.So this could become a very serious citizen protection problem.I recall that in 1982 we had one major case like that. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
We were beginning to discover that large amounts of narcotics were flowing through the Bahamas, and the Bahamian Government wasn't very helpful in solving the problem.When you would confront them with this, their basic reaction was, "Look, you can't stop this traffic with all your armed forces and law enforcement resources.How do you expect us, with our tiny little Coast Guard, and only one air traffic control tower in the whole archipelago, to control this sort of thing?" | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
They were right of course.The problem was that they were not going to allow us to come in and do it for them. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
To go back to the Norman's Cay story, I hitched a ride with the FAA guy on one occasion.I asked him if he would fly me down to Norman's Cay, because I wanted to see what was going on there.In the late fall of 1981 two things had happened.First, I had received the formal complaint from the man who owned bungalows down there.In effect, he had been "run off" his property by the Colombians.Secondly, I was informed by the Bahamas desk in the Office of Caribbean Affairs in the State Department that a number of American citizen property owners on Norman's Cay were going to take out a full-page ad in 10 international newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Times of London, complaining about the government of the Bahamas doing nothing about this problem at Norman's Cay.They had been forced off their property. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I told the desk, "Look, please contact these people, whoever they are--I don't know who they are--and ask them to hold off and at least give me a chance to raise the matter with the government of the Bahamas."
My instinct was that if the ads were published, there was going to be "egg on my face," because I was the local "whipping boy."
I wanted to say to the government of the Bahamas, "This is the problem.What are you doing about it?" | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I wasn't having much luck with the Foreign Minister/Attorney General in talking about the base agreements.The retiring Commandant of the Coast Guard came through the Bahamas on a trip to various locations to bid farewell to the local authorities.I took him on an official call on the Foreign Minister.The Foreign Minister really gave us a hard time.He really lectured this four-star, U. S. Coast Guard admiral about what he called the "fecklessness" of American law enforcement efforts.He even made some adverse comments about the quality of American youth joining the armed services.I could see that the admiral was really doing a "slow burn." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
We were both pretty angry by the time we left that interview, with the gratuitous insults of the United States made by the Bahamian Foreign Minister. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Anyway, I went over and called on Prime Minister Pindling.I said, "Look, I have a couple of things to raise with you.First, I'm getting complaints from American citizens who own property down in Norman's Cay that they're being 'pushed around' by Colombian drug smugglers.They want to put a full-page ad in the international press.I've asked them not to do this until I could make representations to the government." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
At this point he said, "Who are these people who are going to put a full-page ad in the papers and what are their names?"
I said, "I don't really know who they are.I got this information from the State Department."
He said, "That's all right.I'll find out who they are from the Land Register."
Then I said, "Look, the other issue is the base agreements.We need to sign the base agreements so that you can start getting the rent checks."
I said, "I can't get any answer out of your Foreign Minister." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
He said, "What?
My understanding is that you [the United States] are the problem."
I said, "No, we're not the problem.We're ready to sign.
You just tell us where and when you want to sign, and you'll start getting your money."
It was clear from the expression on his face that this was news to him.He said, "Well, I'll check into that."
I went home, feeling rather self satisfied.I had done an "end run" around the Foreign Minister. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
One of the other problems we had had a few days before this trip to Washington was that a U. S. Coast Guard cutter had spotted a motor vessel in international waters near the Bahamas.The vessel had no flag, no markings, and apparently no radio equipment on board to respond to the attempts of the Coast Guard to contact it.It looked to be about the size of a typical drug boat.In international waters the Coast Guard challenged vessels of this kind.The cutter chased this boat for a couple of hours, trying to get it to stop so that they could board it, check it out, and find out whether it was carrying contraband.By the time they stopped it and put a boarding party on it, they discovered that it was a Bahamian mail boat traveling between the islands in the Bahamian archipelago.When the Coast Guard boarding party left the boat, both vessels had drifted into Bahamian territorial waters. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The Coast Guard cutter had not followed the established SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and signaled Washington--Coast Guard Headquarters and the State Department--and the Embassy that it had had this encounter.I can still remember the name of the Bahamian vessel, the "MV (Motor Vessel) Geleta".During the chase the crew of the "Geleta" threw a garbage bag overboard.The Coast Guard Cutter retrieved it, and there was a small amount of marijuana in it.The captain of the cutter thought that they were on to something, and they kept chasing the "Geleta." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
It turned out that the crew of the "Geleta" was a feckless bunch of Bahamians.They had no radio, didn't fly a flag, and had no markings of any kind.It looked like a drug boat, but it wasn't.But.
the captain of the "Geleta" returned to Nassau and screamed bloody murder to the Bahamian Government about "high handed" U. S. Coast Guard activities.So they were all worked up.I had egg on my face.There was egg on the Foreign Minister's face, because he didn't know about it. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The protocol procedure on this was that Washington would inform me, I would call the Foreign Minister day or night and either tell him that a "drug bust" was going on, that we were about to board a Bahamian vessel, or something like that.He would then give his "OK." I must say this about the Foreign Minister/Attorney General.On such occasions he was good about that.In fact, I had to call him at 4:00 AM a couple of times to tell him that DEA was about to jump on somebody on Bahamian territory and was it all right with him? | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
There were issues of "hot pursuit" and so forth.He was agreeable to things like that.It was only on the more formal things that he was giving me--or giving the U. S.--a hard time. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
ANTIPPAS: There was still a proposal on the table about using American helicopters and aircraft to carry Bahamian Police on drug raids--in other words, to facilitate the delivery of Bahamian law enforcement personnel.During the Carter administration Prime Minister Pindling had made a request to the American Government for $25 million in assistance, including communications equipment, boats, and helicopters.Of course, people in Washington just laughed themselves sick when they saw this request.Two years later we finally delivered two "Boston Whaler" boats with spare engines to the Bahamian Government. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Q: These are small... ANTIPPAS: Small, outboard motor powered boats.They're good for use on the open seas, but they didn't amount to $25 million in "goodies"--and this was another issue that Prime Minister Pindling was angry about.He felt that we kept hammering the Bahamas for assistance with our problems with drugs, but we wouldn't give the Bahamas any help.I'll tell you, I was one embarrassed character when I went down to hand over these boats to the Bahamian Police. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
We finally obtained agreement that we would present a proposal to use American transportation assets to carry Bahamian law enforcement people.I thought that it was rather problematical that the Bahamian Foreign Minister/Attorney General would accept this proposal, particularly since he was no friend of mine at this point.However, we put the proposal together.I drafted it on behalf of DEA and sent it on to the State Department.Upston, who happened to be the only guy in ARA at that particular time, dealt with it.He talked it over with Assistant Secretary Enders.However, Enders by that time wouldn't sign his name to anything.He indicated to Upston to "deal with it as you see fit." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
This proposal had not been vetted with anyone else in the State Department, or with the law enforcement community, more generally, in Washington.Upston simply sent me back a one-line cable, signed "Haig" and saying, "Proceed as you see fit."
So the ball had been lateraled back to me.I felt, "Well, let's go for it." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I put the proposal up to the Foreign Ministry, fully expecting that the Foreign Minister was going to reject it out of hand.I thought that he would not agree to let the Americans come tramping through the Bahamas.Much to my surprise, the Foreign Minister agreed that we could do this.
Q: Today is October 18, 1994, Andy.You were talking about Operation BAT.Please continue. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
ANTIPPAS: OK. As I said, I was really surprised that the Bahamian Government agreed to use American transportation assets to take Bahamian police on operations against the narcotics traffickers. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
We're talking now about 1982.It was very clear to me that the Bahamian Government was very much involved in drug trafficking.The Foreign Minister/Attorney General was not.I don't think that he was corrupt.I think that he was "certifiable"--he just had a loose screw.He was brilliant, an intellectual, loquacious, honest as the day is long, but not intellectually honest.
Q: So the Bahamian Government agreed to this proposal.Can you figure out why they accepted it? | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
ANTIPPAS: I think that it was like the appointment of the Ambassador.I think that they "blinked."
They lost their nerve in terms of not permitting the Americans to do what we wanted to do.I think that they could not openly refuse the United States to exercise the right of "hot pursuit" and chase the "bad guys."
The situation was getting very grim in the United States.The amount of narcotics coming into the United States was enormous. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The money laundering operation was on a very large scale in the southeastern part of the United States. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I remember a statistic that I heard.At the time of the economic recession of 1980-82 the only Federal Reserve District in the United States that had a positive cash flow was South Florida.Buildings were going up, and money was changing hands in a big way.The "bad guys" [the drug traffickers] were "buying" entire local governments.Of course, I'm not talking about the Haitian situation, which was also complicating things.It really was a very fragile period of time. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
After Admiral Murphy set up the Federal Task Force in Florida, I used to go over to its meetings.I handled all of my own contacts with the Coast Guard, the DEA, the FBI, and, most importantly, with Admiral Murphy's office.When I would have problems with U. S. Customs, such as not having the radar "operating" on Andros Island, I would call Admiral Murphy and say, "Damn it.We have a [suspected drug smuggling] plane in the air now.We don't know where he's going because the U. S. Customs can't seem to get their act together." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
And so on.Anyhow, that's how we handled this matter. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Once we got a DEA flight "team" on the ground, I decided we would position the helicopter at the Police Training College in Nassau, located on what used to be called Oakes Field, which was once the airport in the Bahamas.We had built that airport during World War II as a landing point for the aircraft which we were ferrying through the Bahamas to Europe or Africa.Until the 1960's it was the commercial airport in Nassau, until they built the international airport farther out on [New Providence] island.The Bahamian Police had set up a police training college at Oakes Field.It had a secure area.I decided that we would put the DEA helicopter at the Police College, because I was afraid to leave it out at the international airport, for fear that the Colombian drug traffickers would sabotage it.The Colombians would be out at the international airport servicing their own aircraft.If the DEA helicopter were there, without much of a team to protect it, it would be easy to sabotage it.If the DEA helicopter were at the Police College, it was more unlikely that a Colombian would come by and pour sugar in the fuel tank, or something like that. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
ANTIPPAS: It turned out that one of my instructors at the National War College was an Army Lieutenant Colonel with whom I had become very friendly.He was originally from New Hampshire and taught "American political history" at the National War College.Anyway, he was very helpful.His assignment after the National War College tour as an instructor was in the office of the Secretary of the Army.He was put to work on problems like the one I had encountered--assistance to civilian law enforcement.I got in touch with him.He became my "prime mover" in trying to get some surplus military communications equipment in place at the Embassy so that we could communicate with the law enforcement world.We were then just going through the hassle over the "posse comitatus law" between the U. S. law enforcement community and the Department of Defense over assistance to law enforcement organizations. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
For example, U. S. Navy vessels would come into Nassau twice a month, on the average.Nassau was a major port of call for ships coming out of Norfolk, VA.It seemed that if we didn't have a Navy ship in port, we'd have a Coast Guard vessel.I went aboard an awful lot of ships, doing my "thing" as chargé d'affaires.I entertained some of the ships' officers and got to know them.For example, we once had a visit from the USS INGERSOLL, a Navy destroyer which carried both guns and missiles.It was one of the newer types, built since World War II.The skipper of the INGERSOLL was a very friendly Navy Captain.When I went aboard, they gave me a tour of the ship, including the Combat Command Center.They told me how, using radar, they could vector weapons systems and could "play war games" to keep up the skills of the crew.I asked them, "Do you guys ever do anything when you see a drug airplane fly overhead?It must happen all the time.Do you do anything about that?Do you tell anybody?" | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The Captain said, "No, we have no requirement to report on this kind of activity.Even if we should see, for example, an aircraft making a drop [of some kind of packages], we wouldn't tell anybody.There's no requirement for us to do anything about it." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
It "blew my mind" that we had all of these assets floating around there playing "war games"--kind of like computer games--to keep up the training of their crews.One of these aircraft could be offloading a month's supply of cocaine, and the Navy ship wouldn't tell anybody, much less chase them or anything like that.Some of the skippers on these Navy ships were very sympathetic to the view that they should be doing more about that. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I remember that the INGERSOLL had to "clear port" one day because of a conflict in the cruise ship schedule.They had to make room at the pier.They had to get permission from Norfolk.Normally, a Navy ship doesn't leave port once it comes in.It stays for a couple of days and then leaves.
"Clearing port" early is an added expense and some trouble, but on this particular occasion they had to "clear port."
The skipper said, "Would you like to bring some of your people from the Embassy on board? | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
We'll just take a little ride outside the island."
I said, "Sure, why not?"
The skipper said, "Well, where should we go?"
I said, "There are a couple of islands about 30 miles North of here which, I know, are major dropping points for drugs.Planes come in and drop the packages.Why don't we go over there and take a look?" | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
We did.I got a whole bunch of people from the Embassy who wanted to go out and take a ride one morning.So the INGERSOLL showed up off this island.They put a long boat over the side, and we went out to take a look.I think that we scared the hell out of somebody. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Anyway, it was clear to me that the Defense Department wasn't really "on board" on this drug enforcement effort.Of course, the argument on the military side was that this kind of activity detracts from their primary mission, which is training for war.It's kind of like the debate which we're having today about whether or not the military should be carrying out "peace-keeping" missions which detract from their fundamental commitments.These "peace-keeping" missions also cost a lot of money for fuel and so forth.At that time the argument was that the military were prevented from law enforcement activities under the post Civil War "Posse Comitatus" Act.This act was passed as a result of the occupation of the South by the Union Army.It provided that the military would not carry on law enforcement functions.So the Defense Department used to take cover behind that law.Eventually, the "Posse Comitatus" Act was modified to allow the military to take on law enforcement missions.In fact, after the Cold War was over, as you may recall, the military went around "looking for a mission." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
They needed to justify their existence and their assets.But at the time, in 1982, we had this frustration of really needing to have our armed forces to go out and chase the drug traffickers.
All things come to those who wait and try.Eventually, the military decided that we needed more than this "one lung" helicopter with one pilot with very limited "loiter" time.It was becoming very clear to the law enforcement community that there was a lot happening in the Bahamas, and we weren't dealing with it. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
For example, at one time the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] reported that they were doing a "surveillance" flight over Bimini Island.Flying at about 10,000 feet, at night, using night vision equipment, they watched a drug aircraft being unloaded by the Bahamian Police.It was quite clear to everyone that we had to do something about tightening the screws in the Bahamas. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
A plan was devised to deal with this situation.One of its major components was to station several radar "blimps" in the Bahamas.One of them had already been emplaced in Key West, 80 miles Southwest of Miami, which kept an eye on military aircraft activity, particularly in Mariel [Pinar del Rio province in Cuba].The "blimp" or "balloon" in Key West was called "Fat Albert." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The Reagan administration proposed to put additional blimps in strategic locations in the Bahamas where they could monitor drug aircraft coming through the Bahamas.The Bahamian Foreign Minister/Attorney General was less eager to do that.He gave us a hard time.However, Congress was very much in favor of it.There were several Congressional Committees which were eager to have these blimps emplaced.Hearings were held on this and other proposals in 1983.In fact, a Congressional Committee of 21 Congressmen came down to the Bahamas to look the situation over, meet with Prime Minister Pindling and company, and come to some conclusions. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
ANTIPPAS: I have to tell you about my effort to get an aircraft for the Bahamians.As I said before, the Bahamians complained bitterly that we were putting all this pressure on them to do something.As Prime Minister Pindling told Vice President Bush in Miami in December, 1982, in my presence, "You have all of this ability in the United States, and you can't stop the drug aircraft or drug boats from coming in.We have one control tower in all of the Bahamas, no Air Force, and not much of a Navy.How do you expect us to stop the drug traffic?" | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Vice President Bush got very angry about that barbed comment.
As I mentioned before, the Bahamian Government had given the Carter administration a shopping list of $25 million for equipment which they wanted to support the anti-drug effort, including helicopters, boats, weapons, communications gear, and other things.The Carter administration replied, "No way we're going to give these guys this equipment because it's very clear to us that the Bahamians aren't going to do anything with it." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
There was also the view that helicopters were a very expensive proposition to run.Unlike fixed wing aircraft, they are really expensive in terms of maintenance, apart from the training of air crew.They're certainly very useful, but their cost effectiveness is really questionable under the circumstances. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
ANTIPPAS: I "sold" the Department's Bureau of International Narcotics Affairs.At that time the Assistant Secretary was a Republican political appointee from New York state who later went on to become a federal judge.He was quite helpful.It turned out that the desk officer in INM [Bureau of International Narcotics Affairs], who was handling the Bahamas, was a consular officer whom I knew.He was also very friendly and helpful.I said, "Look, you've got to get this plane for me.The Department of the Interior will give us the airplane.If you can scratch up $40-50,000, we can refurbish the engines and plane.We would need some money for pilot training--and we'll get the Bahamians to fly it." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Anyway, Operation BAT finally didn't get the seaplane because the British "double crossed" us.They said that they didn't want the airplane because they were under pressure to get the Bahamians to buy a British aircraft for their use--but land based.It had no ability to land anywhere except a runway.There were very few runways available.This was totally counter to what I was trying to "sell" them.To get to most of the places where the "bad guys" congregated, you either needed a helicopter or a seaplane.The drug traffickers were using air drops and "cigarette type" speedboats, which can go 60 miles an hour.We needed an aircraft to catch them.There are no ships which can chase these boats, even though the U. S. Navy put into service in the Caribbean area several hydrofoils.One of them, the USS TAURUS, once visited Nassau.I looked a little bit stupid because we had an airplane which we couldn't use.I don't know what happened to the old Grumman "Widgeon." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I don't know whether the Department used it elsewhere or everybody kind of "fell on their swords."
I never forgave the British for that.I did have one other idea that I was working on.There was an island South of Bimini Island.Bimini is the closest Bahamian island to Florida and a very natural, staging point for all kinds of "shenanigans" going on, aimed at the United States--illegal aliens, narcotics, money laundering, you name it.They even had banks on Bimini Island for money laundering. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
You didn't have to be a tactical genius to figure out that we had to do something to stop these speedboats, which were the primary means of moving high value narcotics into Florida from the Bahamas.What would happen was that there would be air drops of narcotics on various islands in the Bahamas, anywhere from Bimini to the East. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
"Cigarette" speedboats would just run into Florida at night, with a load of cocaine.Aircraft were also used, of course, to smuggle drugs, but speedboats were being used, more and more.We had to do something to stop these boats, as they were crossing the Straits of Florida. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
By that point, in the spring of 1983, Ambassador Dobriansky had been appointed and was about to arrive in Nassau.I had this 21-member Congressional delegation visit us and give us the benefit of their wisdom, as well as "dump all over us." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The U. S. military had acceded to the Reagan administration's desire to give us more assets for our efforts.So a Special Mission Air Force unit with helicopters, from Hurlburt Air Force Base in Florida, was designated to send some aircraft to the Bahamas and to "set up shop." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The unit was under the command of an Air Force lieutenant colonel.These aircraft were equipped for night time operations.They had night vision equipment, and the personnel knew how to use it.They had the latest model helicopters to do this.
We moved them into the Police Academy at Oakes Field, and began to run some more effective operations because we had a greater capability.I pretty much directed this whole effort. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I had a good relationship with two DEA agents who were assigned to the Embassy.They were very accommodating and understanding.However, they were essentially intelligence operatives.They really would not have known how to manage this kind of operation.For example, I was the one who said that we had to have rubber "fuel bladders" brought in and set up because we couldn't take the chance that the "bad guys" would adulterate the fuel.We'd have to have our own fuel supply, which we could test and could guard.We wouldn't depend on commercial fuel.These DEA guys would not have thought of that. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
It was my idea to move this whole operation closer in to the Embassy.Oakes Field was not far from the Embassy.Think of it.If you had to run an operation, if you suddenly got word that there was a "bad guy" flying up the "Slot" and you had to drive all the way out to the international airport to mount up your helicopters, since we didn't man these planes unless we had a target, it made a lot more sense to operate from closer to the Embassy.I was able to arrange that. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The U. S. Air Force was very accommodating and very helpful.We found housing for them.They were on "per diem" and were doing very well.I didn't get the impression that the Drug Enforcement guys were resentful that I, in fact, was running the "drug war" in the Bahamas because, by that point, I had been chargé d'affaires for almost two years.There was no question of who was running the Embassy, even though the Ambassador was just about to arrive. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
It was my thought that we needed to station one of these helicopters closer to the Straits of Florida, so that we could actually "run down" these speedboats as they came across.I had in mind setting up a base on Bimini Island, as well as a base on this sand island, of which I spoke just now.I flew over and "made a deal" with the management of the sand island that we could station some fuel there so that the helicopters could refuel, if necessary.The management of the sand island would arrange to guard the fuel.We didn't think that we would station helicopters on the sand island, because conditions there were not very good.There was a lot of blowing sand.It would really be like desert operations.It was not a particularly hospitable situation.But we really didn't need to station helicopters on the sand island.But we could set up on Bimini.The deal that I worked out with the Royal Navy officer, who was the Commodore of the Bahamian Defense Force at that time, was that we would construct a helicopter pad in Bimini.He would assign a patrol boat and armed guards to protect the helicopter pad, so that we could base our helicopters there.This was really "Apache" [hostile] country.There were enough of the "bad guys," so that if you're going to set up a military base, you'd better be prepared to guard it. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Payment for fuel was a manageable problem.The Commodore had to operate his forces anyway, but he didn't have money for fuel for his boats to go back and forth to Nassau.So I worked out a "deal" with IN/M [in the State Department], which was very helpful to me, that they would pick up the "tab" for the fuel for the Commodore's Bahamian Defense Force.He would station troops there to guard the helicopters.So we were all set to start operations, flying out of Bimini Island and this sand island to chase down the "bad guys." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The Commander of the U. S. Coast Guard District [Seventh Coast Guard District] was Rear Admiral "Deese" Thompson, who was very helpful.He had begun his career, flying seaplanes like the Grumman Widgeon in the Bahamas, back in the 1950's.I had complained about not having the means to check out the waterways in the Bahamas.He arranged to have shipped over to me in 1982, a 17-foot, aluminum hulled, "buoy tender," with a 125 HP Johnson outboard motor. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
It would really move.So one day they towed this boat over, behind a Coast Guard cutter, and said, "Here's your boat."
You could fill a volume with what I didn't know about boats. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I learned "OJT" (On The Job).Of course, there was no operating money whatsoever in the Embassy for this boat.Some delicate inquiries were made to the ARA Executive Office, but I was told that there wouldn't be any money for this purpose.So I would somehow have to run this thing out of the Embassy budget.There was no money to keep this boat in a marina.Since the DCM's house in Nassau was on the waterfront, and I had a beach in front of the house, I just anchored the boat right there.For fuel I used the budget for the automobile assigned to me.We used this boat to cruise around and check on the Haitian boats which were cruising through there and to keep an eye out on the "bad guys." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Now and again the marina owners were very understanding and would let me keep the boat in one of their slips for a couple of days.
Q: The rule of thumb is that you almost have to get rid of the old DCM, because it doesn't work.
ANTIPPAS: You get big egos involved, and I knew that.But operations against the drug traffic seemed to be going so well. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
We were really beginning to build up a head of steam.I had a great relationship with Vice President George Bush's office and the law enforcement community.In December, 1982, after the meeting in Miami, I went up to Washington to meet Ambassador Dobriansky and Assistant Secretary Tom Enders and find out what the Department had in mind for me to do next.Tom said, "You know, the Bahamians want you out of Nassau.Prime Minister Pindling wants you out."
He said, "What do you want to do?" | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
He said, "What do you want to do?"
I said, "Well, there isn't much available in the way of assignments.The only assignment available would be Principal Officer in Martinique.Frankly, from what I've seen happen to guys who go to Martinique, that's got to be the end of the line."
You know, nobody ever goes on to anything after [serving in the Consulate in] Martinique.
ANTIPPAS: So I have done that over the years and I thought that there was no future in the Foreign Service after serving in Martinique. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I wasn't planning to retire at that point.I was having a great time, running this anti-drug program.I thought, "I'd just as soon stay here and give Pindling heartburn."
Enders' view was, "OK, you can stay as far as I'm concerned.Pindling is not going to dictate our personnel management." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The NBC expose, which was called, "The Vesco Connection in the Bahamas," alleged that the Bahamian Government was being "paid off" by Robert Vesco on behalf of the Colombian drug cartel to let them use Norman's Cay, which I mentioned earlier.The television program stated that there were drug airplanes flying out of Norman's Cay into Florida and that the original "connection" had been Robert Vesco, who had allegedly funded the initial Colombian operation in the late 1970's.The program was apparently based on "leaks," probably out of the State of Florida law enforcement community.I don't think that the "leaks" came from the federal law enforcement community.I think that it sounded like what the Sheriff of Broward County had said to me.The Sheriff had told me that Robert Vesco had been "paying off" Prime Minister Pindling and company.Vesco was allegedly also in "cahoots" with the Colombian drug cartel. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
On the day before the NBC television program on the Bahamas was aired, my friend Kenny Cartwright, from the Bahamas, called me in Boston where I was visiting my brother.Kenny was still in Nassau.He said, "Watch NBC tomorrow morning.On the NBC 'Today' show there's going to be an expose on the Bahamas.I've got a problem because they're going to mention my name as being involved in narcotics trafficking."
He asked, "What can I do to protect myself?" | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
He asked, "What can I do to protect myself?"
He said that Glenn Campbell, who was the DEA agent in Nassau, "knows very well that I am not involved.
I knew that myself.It's going to be very bad if my name is mentioned.It can ruin me." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I advised him to send a telegram to the chief of the DEA office in Miami, whose name escapes me now, indicating that this NBC show was about to be televised.I advised him to tell the DEA chief that he absolutely denies any involvement in drug trafficking and that he is willing to take a polygraph ["lie detector"] test to prove his point.I said, "I suggest that you send a copy of that telegram to NBC immediately, showing that you have done this.That may dissuade them from mentioning your name." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
However, in any event, Kenny Cartwright's name was mentioned prominently. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
U. S. Government policy was that we didn't want to create any problems with the Bahamas.This had been my own instinct.I felt that it doesn't serve any purpose to pick a fight with the Bahamian Government.It would just give them an excuse not to cooperate with us.In fact, that is what I told Bryan Ross, when ran me to ground later on in Grenada.At first I refused to talk to him.Then I agreed to.I told him, "Look, I may be very sympathetic with what you're trying to do--your motives and all that.I certainly agree that a number of figures in the Bahamian Government are as corrupt as the day is long.I also think that some of the things you reported in that story were not right--the references to 'air conditioned hangars full of cocaine,' and all of that stuff.If I had been in charge of the Embassy when you came to Nassau, in July, 1983, you would not have gotten in the door.Not only would I not have talked to you, I wouldn't even have let you in the Embassy, because it was not my job, as a representative of the United States, to cause an uproar in our relationships with the Bahamas and give some of the leaders of the Bahamian Government an excuse not to cooperate with us," which is what happened.They stopped cooperating on the drug side and they also stalled the signature of the base agreement for another year before they finally sat down and signed it. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I had gotten to know Kenny Cartwright earlier during my stay in Nassau.He was a white businessman who was doing very well.He owned car dealerships and property.Later on I rented a house from him which my family lived in. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Initially, I looked at Kenny Cartwright with something of a jaundiced eye.I had gotten to know him because our wives were in the same bridge group.Kenny's wife was of Colombian background and had been married to Kenny for some years.We met these people socially.My wife was telling me about his wife.I thought that I should stay away from these people because he had the absolutely classic profile of somebody involved in drugs. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
But I was wrong, actually.He was simply very much a hard charging, Bahamian businessman who knew how to make a buck.As Nassau was a very small community, he had gotten to know a lot of people.One of the things that he had done was that he had either sold or rented property to Robert Vesco in the Abaco Islands.I think that he either sold Vesco a house or a half interest in an island there, which, of course, was suspect in some people's minds.I asked DEA to run a "whole name check" on him before I started seeing this guy socially.We got to know each other.He had a couple of yachts. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
On Easter weekend, 1983, we took our families and went down to inspect Norman's Cay, which, by that time, had been abandoned by the Colombian cartel, as a result of the pressure that we had put on them the previous year through Vice President George Bush.I had been able to arrange for a surveillance of the island by an AWACS [Airborne Warning and Control System] aircraft.The Vice President was able to hand Prime Minister Pindling the substance of this surveillance at their meeting in Miami in December, 1982.He insisted that Pindling had to cooperate with the United States.I think that Pindling got the word to the Colombians that they had to leave Norman's Cay, and they left.They just walked out, leaving groceries sitting right on the table.I found open bottles of Ketchup sitting on tables there in the houses which I inspected. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Anyway, I didn't advertise my presence there.We went down to Norman's Cay with an American doctor who lived on the island part of the time.We inspected every house-- some 20 of them--on the island.I found evidence--drug paraphernalia--including boxes with the leaflets which the Colombians had dropped on the 1982 Bahamian independence day parade in Nassau.These leaflets said, "Nixon, Reagan, DEA--Go Home!
The Bahamas for the Bahamians!" | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The Bahamas for the Bahamians!"
They had stapled money to some of these leaflets, which they also dropped on Bimini and on Grand Bahama Islands.They had Bahamian $100, $50, $20, and $10 bills--which are equal to U. S. dollars--stapled to these leaflets.I learned from a grocer in Bimini Island later on that people came in to buy groceries with the money still stapled to the leaflets. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
The drug traffickers apparently just tossed these boxes of leaflets out of the plane door.One of the boxes apparently hit the [horizontal] stabilizer, damaging the aircraft so that they had to land.The Bahamian police knew who carried out this operation, and they arrested the Bahamian pilot.I also found plastic envelopes in which the Colombians packed cocaine.I found a duffle bag--not a military regulation size bag but a smaller size used in packing cocaine.I found a number of pistol holsters and a set of Sears Roebuck golf clubs which were cut off so that the heads of the clubs were sticking out of the bag.The bottom part of the bag was empty so that you could load things into it--drugs or money or whatever. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
ANTIPPAS: I felt that we should be doing as much as we can to interdict the flow of narcotics into the United States from the Bahamas.I've looked at my statement several times since then, as I still have copies of it.I could have done it better, but this was prepared in a hurry.I made it CONFIDENTIAL because my family was still down in Nassau.I think that I came out of those hearings, "smelling like a rose."
I was complimented and was certainly not hurt by that. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
After it became known that I had testified before the Congressional Task Force on Narcotics, Prime Minister Pindling realized that my family was still in the Bahamas.At first I did not know how he found out.However, Ambassador Dobriansky was sending telegrams to the Department, not only to ARA but to "M" [Management], claiming that I was the "leak," that I was the "problem," and that I was causing political problems for the Embassy in Nassau because of my activities.I am not sure of exactly what he alleged, because I only saw some of his statements.The Ambassador was in trouble with the White House because he had compromised the narcotics campaign.The Bahamians were making it very clear that the NBC television program angered them and were beginning to drag their feet on law enforcement cooperation with us.In fact, the Ambassador was the source of the public affairs problem for the Embassy by his talking to NBC.He had really done the dumbest thing of all, which was to open up this "Pandora's Box." | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I wasn't in the Bahamas.I could truthfully say that I didn't know a thing about the NBC program on the Bahamas until I saw it myself on the day after Labor Day, 1983. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
CECIL S. RICHARDSON Chief Consular Officer Nassau (1983) Cecil S. Richardson was born in New York in 1926, and graduated from Queen’s College.He served in the US Army from 1944 to 1947, and overseas from 1951 to 1952.Entering the Foreign Service in 1956, he was stationed in Dakar, Saigon, Lagos, Niamey, Paris, Accra, Brussels, Quito, Tehran, Lima, St. Paolo and Bahamas.He was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy on August 5, 2003.
Q: Well, how, what were the issues in the Bahamas? | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Q: Well, how, what were the issues in the Bahamas?
RICHARDSON: Drugs.The Bahamas, the only time of prosperity in the Bahamas is when there is a serious shortage of something in the United States.During the Civil War, it was smuggling guns and ammunition, supplies.During prohibition it was booze and since World War II, it’s been drugs.
Q: Well, I’ve heard you had Roz Ridgway.She was down there earlier and she was saying this was the port drugs hit.
RICHARDSON: Yes. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
RICHARDSON: Yes.
Q:And this was just when the Bahamas got independence, she was, I think DCM and it was, the big money and all hadn’t yet hit and it was a solid, capable young government, but all held ... RICHARDSON: But it’s so corrupt, that type of money is terribly corrupting.
Q: Well, were you concerned about the money getting, corrupting our staff in the consular section. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
RICHARDSON: There was no way the visas were the problem.The Bahamas regarded themselves as the 51st state.They’d go see an ophthalmologist in Miami, the same for gynecologist.And you’d go to Florida to have your baby so there were no serious visa problems for Bohemians.
Q: Were they throwing Americans in jail for drug business or not?
RICHARDSON: Yes, but they were mules.
Q: Peru.
RICHARDSON: In Peru. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Q: Peru.
RICHARDSON: In Peru.
Those were people, obviously they were small time entrepreneurs, they were coming down to buy a kilo to take back to make a little score for themselves.No, these were mules.Welfare mothers, single mothers on welfare who’d be paid to come over, collect the package and bring it back.
Q: So what happened to them? | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Q: So what happened to them?
RICHARDSON: They were, they’d be arrested or better yet they’d be permitted to board the plane and they’d be arrested in the States in the hopes that the information they could give would lead to the person who hired them.One, now I did have one fellow who swallowed a couple of condoms full of cocaine, but this was for personal consumption.
Q: Yes. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Q: Yes.
RICHARDSON: Well, the plane was on the runway, about to take off, when one of the condoms ruptured and he went into a frenzy, a drug induced frenzy, and died right on the runway with his wife there.Now, whether his wife was privy to his activities or not, I had no idea, but I had one dead American and fresh widow on my hands for the weekend, because I couldn’t even get the medical examiner to certify to his death until Monday and this was Saturday.So I took her, I took the widow home with me. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Q: Did... RICHARDSON: But that’s the only drug death, I know I had many other deaths.Over 2 million Americans visit the Bahamas annually so they get into all kinds of mischief.I had one tourist, we found him dead at the bottom of the elevator shaft in one of the big hotels.And we don’t even know how it happened.How did he get under the elevator?They never found a defective door, you know where they could say oh well, something happened, the door opened and he stepped into a void.They never found that a defective door.We had rapes.Well, these things happen.We had people die on the cruise ship on its way to the Bahamas. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
BARBADOS EDAWRD M. FEATHERSTONE Economic Officer Bridgetown (1973-1976) Mr. Featherstone was born in New York City and raised there and in Japan.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and serving in the US Army, in 1961 he entered the Foreign Service.
As a Japanese language and area specialist Mr. Featherstone served primarily in Japanese posts, including Kobe-Osaka, Yokohama, Niigata, Okinawa (Consul General) and Tokyo.
He also served in Barbados and in Washington. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
He also served in Barbados and in Washington.
Mr. Featherstone was interviewed by Thomas Dunnigan in 1999.
Q: What were your main problems as Economic Officer there?
FEATHERSTONE: Theodore Roosevelt Brittan.
Q: I see.
That answers that one.
Were there any problems with drugs at the time?
FEATHERSTONE: There were some drugs.
Some of the consular people that I talked with, would speak of Americans getting in trouble with drugs and what not.
I don’t think it was a great big deal, though. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I don’t think it was a great big deal, though.
It was mostly pot, smoking it and that sort of thing.
I don’t think people were heavily into it.
As I understand, people are now, down in the Caribbean.
You are liable to get yourself blown away because they have all kinds of traffic.
Q: It wasn’t a route for drugs to the U.S. or anything?
FEATHERSTONE: No.
It was not.
I never got too much involved with the drug stuff, other than talking to some of the consular people, who came across it. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
I remember when I was a consular officer, getting involved in it a couple times, because people were smoking pot.
But, in Japan, you can get seven years for pot.
So, it is a big deal.
We would have these people come in and say, “Gee, this is the only time I ever smoked pot.
I have never done this in my life before.” You find out, later on, that this is their tenth time up or something like that. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
JOHNNY YOUNG Administrative Officer Georgetown (1977-1979) Ambassador Young was born in Georgia and raised in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
He was educated at Temple University and entered the Foreign Service in 1967.
Before being named Ambassador, Mr. Young served in a number of embassies in the administrative field, including Madagascar, Guinea, Kenya, Qatar, Barbados, Jordan and the Netherlands.
In 1989 he was named US Ambassador to Sierra Leone, where he served until 1992. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
He subsequently served as US Ambassador to Togo (1994-1997), Bahrain (1997-2001) and Slovenia (2001- 2004).Ambassador Young was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy in 2005.
Q: The disease.
YOUNG: The disease, yes, it didn’t exist at that time.
Or crime.
We had minor break-ins now and then, no kind of assaults, no murders, that sort of thing.
It wasn’t a high crime wave.
It was, however, beginning to be a transshipment point for narcotics. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
We were running into an increasing number of cases involving transshipments from further down in Latin America or through other points in the Caribbean using Barbados as a transshipment point.
I remember we had one case involving a very well known family who had come through and someone had sent a box of dolls to this family.
I don’t know if it was in Canada or the United States. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
This package was addressed to the maid at one of their estates somewhere and the police knew what was in it and when the maid went to get it they nabbed her.
Then revealed that inside the dolls there was marijuana or whatever the drug was.
They were able to establish really that the maid had absolutely nothing to do with it.
It was somebody else’s.
But I mean that kind of thing was beginning to happen.
Now it’s a major concern to us. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
Now it’s a major concern to us.
As a matter of fact I think we even have DEA people assigned to the mission in Barbados.
NICOLAS ROBERTSON Assistant Public Affairs Officer, USIS Bridgetown (1980-1981) Mr. Robertson was born and raised in California.
He was born in Wilmington, near the heart of the Los Angeles Harbor district.
He attended University of California at Santa Cruz.
Mr. Robertson first desired to be an academic, but then spent some time working as a chef on a ship. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |
After returning home, he took the Foreign Service written and oral tests and passed.
Mr. Robertson subsequently was stationed in South Africa, Barbados, Argentina, Nigeria, Ghana, Venezuela, and worked as the Deputy Director of the Office of African Affairs in at the State Department.
Mr. Robertson was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy in 2009.
Q: Drugs hadn’t hit the place yet, had it?
ROBERTSON: No.
When you talk about drugs it was just smoking marijuana still. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721904384142.pdf | https://adst.org/Readers/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-IN-LATIN-AMERICA.pdf | Bahamas |