NEW YORK, CMC – United States law enforcement authorities say 13 people, including high-ranking members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), face possible life imprisonment after they have been charged with cocaine importation and related weapons offenses.
“As alleged, for years, drug traffickers have smuggled tons of cocaine through The Bahamas with the support and protection of corrupt Bahamian government officials who control airports throughout the country and provide sensitive information about US Coast Guard movements to drug traffickers,” said Damian Williams, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.
“This Indictment is the latest in a series of charges that this Office and the DEA’s Special Operations Division have brought against corrupt government officials around the globe who partner with dangerous cocaine traffickers,” he added.
Williams, along with Anne Milgram, the administrator of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), announced on Wednesday afternoon the unsealing of the indictment charging 13 defendants with cocaine importation and related weapons offenses in connection with their participation in a massive cocaine importation conspiracy enabled by “corrupt Bahamian government officials,”
On Wednesday, Bahamas Prime Minister Phillip Davis told Parliament that the revelations strike at the “core of who we are as a nation”.
“Madam Speaker, this House and the Bahamian people deserve answers,” he said, adding that the Bahamas government will act decisively to ensure that those responsible for these breaches, regardless of rank or position, are held accountable.
“This betrayal will not go unanswered,” he vowed.
Williams, the son of a Jamaican-born physician, said the suspects were arrested on Monday in Florida and had their initial appearances Wednesday afternoon in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Williams said the following individuals are charged with cocaine importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Among those arrested are Elvis Nathaniel Curtis, 51, an RBPF chief superintendent, and 56-year-old Darrin Alexander Roker, a RBDF Chief Petty Officer, William Simeon, 52 of the Bahamas, Theodore Nathaniel Adderley, also known as “Blue,” 53, of The Bahamas; Joshua McDonald Scavella, also known as “Cow,” 46, of The Bahamas; Steele-Pomare, 59, of Colombia; Orozco-Toro, 58, of Colombia; Davon Revion Khaim Rolle, 34, of The Bahamas; Darren Arthur Ferguson, also known as “Hubba,” 54, of The Bahamas; Domonick Delancy, 36, of The Bahamas; and Donald Frederick Ferguson II, also known as “DJ” and “Billy,” 26, of The Bahamas.
In addition, Williams said the defendants are charged with conspiring to use and carry firearms during and possessing firearms in furtherance of the cocaine-importation conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Williams said the charges should be another powerful wake-up call to corrupt officials everywhere.
“We will not rest until you are held accountable for your role in the drug trade that is poisoning this country and our community. I commend the career prosecutors of this Office and our partners at the DEA for their tireless efforts to disrupt drug-fueled corruption wherever it takes hold”.
Milgram said the arrests of corrupt officials expose the alarming betrayal of public trust that has enabled tons of cocaine to flow through The Bahamas and into the United States.
She said in 2024, there was a 5.4 percent increase in cocaine seizures in the United States.
“By abusing their positions to accept bribes, protect traffickers, and facilitate drug shipments via airports and maritime routes, these individuals jeopardized countless lives for personal gain.
“Let this be a clear message from the DEA: If you are a government official who uses your power to traffic in drugs and corruption, we will bring you to justice in the United States,” Milgram said.
According to the allegations contained in the indictment, since at least May 2021, drug traffickers have smuggled tons of cocaine through The Bahamas for importation into the US with “the help and support of corrupt Bahamian government officials.
“The Bahamas has in recent years become an increasingly important transshipment point for US-bound cocaine,” the indictment says. “This is a result, in part, of its proximity to the US, as the northernmost Bahamian islands are less than 100 nautical miles from the coast of Florida, making The Bahamas an attractive route for cocaine traffickers.”
The indictment adds that the increased cocaine flow through The Bahamas and into the US has been “a direct result of yearslong, drug-fueled corruption by certain officials in key Bahamian government institutions.
“Such corruption includes certain high-ranking members of the RBPF and other Bahamian government officials who work with drug traffickers to receive, protect, and provide safe passage for massive cocaine shipments through the airports and ports of The Bahamas.
These corrupt officials support the drug trade into the US at multiple levels.”
The indictment states that cocaine-laden aircraft, including US-registered planes, are received at remote airstrips and larger airports in The Bahamas “under the supervision of corrupt RBPF officials who work with, and accept bribes from, drug traffickers.”
Then, once the cocaine arrives in The Bahamas, “those corrupt officials also help drug traffickers transport their cocaine from the northernmost points of The Bahamas to the US using go-fast vessels, yachts, and fishing boats,” the indictment adds.
Williams said the DEA has historically coordinated drug enforcement operations with the RBPF through a counternarcotics program called Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, or “OPBAT.”
Although OPBAT has had its share of successes in combatting the drug trade in the Caribbean, he said, “certain corrupt RBPF and Bahamian officials abuse the OPBAT program, and their relationship with the DEA to disrupt US-led law enforcement attempts to combat drug trafficking in The Bahamas.
“Corrupt RBPF officials have, among other things, denied the DEA access to seized cocaine and evidence, provided information to the DEA that was contradicted by aerial surveillance, and even informed a DEA agent that certain drug trafficking targets were ‘off limits,’” Williams said.
Williams said that, in or about September 2024, Curtis explained that, in exchange for a two million S dollars bribe, a high-ranking Bahamian politician that Curtis named would authorize the assistance and involvement of armed RBPF officials to facilitate incoming cocaine shipments.
He said Curtis and Roker also discussed abusing their official positions to transport drug proceeds from cocaine sales in the US back to The Bahamas, including with the Bahamian government and military aircraft.
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