Opposition leaders in the Bahamas demand probe after US ties politician to drug trafficking case

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Opposition leaders in the Bahamas are demanding an investigation after a U.S. federal agent alleged that a suspected drug trafficker who survived a recent plane crash near Florida was rescued and found with roughly $30,000. The money was inside a bag labeled with the name of an unidentified high-ranking politician from the archipelago.

The suspect, who was deported to the Bahamas more than a decade ago after being convicted on drug and money laundering charges, is accused of trafficking cocaine through the Bahamas to the U.S. He also is accused of meeting the unnamed politician in October 2024 at the Bahamian Parliament in Nassau to talk about a deal involving some 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of cocaine, according to a court document filed May 14 in the Southern District of New York, a day after the plane crash. It stated that the politician “could provide security for the planned cocaine shipment” and was introduced to an unnamed suspect as a “future associate.”

The allegations are the latest blow to the Bahamas, whose police commissioner resigned in December 2024 after a sergeant and two officers were indicted in what the U.S. Justice Department at the time called “a massive cocaine conspiracy enabled by corrupt Bahamian government officials.”

Michael Pintard, leader of the opposition Free National Movement party, claimed Monday that he does not believe the Bahamas’ prime minister, who secured reelection the day of the plane crash, will hold anyone accountable.

“We issued warnings about the close relationship between members of this administration and characters of interest to police locally and internationally,” he told reporters.

Latrae Rahming, spokesman for the office of the prime minister, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Tuesday.

“If the prime minister has not spoken to it, I don’t want to be the first one to address a matter of that significance,” he told local reporters on Monday.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Michael Coleman asserted in his deposition that multiple drug trafficking organizations are ferrying loads “under the protection of local officials” in the Bahamas.

He alleged that the suspected drug trafficker who survived the plane crash owns a business he uses to “bid on Bahamian government-issued construction contracts and launder his narcotics trafficking proceeds.”

Coleman said the suspect was one of 11 people who survived the crash off the coast of Florida late last week. He was rescued and later arrested.

The DEA agent said the agency has been investigating drug trafficking organizations operating in countries including the Bahamas since roughly 2022.

Dr. Duane Sands, chairman of the Free National Movement party, told The Nassau Guardian newspaper on Monday that the current administration was bringing shame and embarrassment to the Bahamas as he called for a commission of inquiry.

“The Bahamian people are entitled to know,” he was quoted as saying. “The heart and soul of our country are at stake.”