National

Prime Minister: The Tree Will Be Shaken Until Every Bad Apple Falls

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Prime Minister Philip Davis said “the tree will be shaken until every bad apple falls.” He was responding to an indictment filed in New York that alleges that 11 Bahamians, including members of law enforcement, conspired to import cocaine into the United States.

Published

1 year ago

November 27, 2024

Berthony McDermott

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Prime Minister Philip Davis said “the tree will be shaken until every bad apple falls.”

He was responding to an indictment filed in New York that alleges that 11 Bahamians, including members of law enforcement, conspired to import cocaine into the United States.

The details caught the country off guard after the unsealed indictment made the rounds on social media on Tuesday evening.

The indictment names Chief Superintendent of Police Elvis Curtis, who was officer-in-charge of the Airport Division, Sergeant Prince Symonette, who works with Curtis, and RBDF Chief Petty Officer Darrin Roker as conspirators who helped facilitate the transshipment of tons of cocaine from South America through The Bahamas and ultimately the United States.

Responding to the damming indictment, Prime Minister Davis sought to make it clear that the betrayal will not go unanswered, adding that it strikes at the core of who we are as a nation.

The indictment alleges that corrupt officers and government officials undermined the work and progress of Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos which was launched in 1982 to police drug trafficking operations in the southern Bahamas.

It reads, “the increase in cocaine flow through The Bahamas has been a direct result of drug-fueled corruption that has infected various Bahamian institutions.”

It adds, more specifically, since at least in or about May 2021, corrupt high-ranking members of the RPBF and other Bahamian government officials have worked with Columbian and Bahamian drug traffickers to facilitate the receipt, protection and safe passage of massive cocaine shipments through the airport and ports of The Bahamas.

It continues the corrupt RBPF and Bahamian government officials support the drug trade in the United States at every turn.

It reads that in or about September 2024, Curtis told a trafficker that in exchange for $2 million, a high-ranking Bahamian politician, whom Curtis named, would authorize the assistance and involvement of Bahamian law enforcement officials – including RBPF officers – in facilitating cocaine shipment.