Document calls SK drug shipping point, criticizes Police
By Lesroy W. Williams
Observer Reporter
(Basseterre, St. Kitts)- Portions of a report by the U.S. State Department on drug activity and law enforcement efforts in the federation are being criticized by the Federation’s Minister of Security, who says that some parts are inaccurate, while he praises the overall intent of the document’s focus on illegal narcotics activity
The 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report states that St. Kitts and Nevis is a transshipment point for cocaine from South America to the United States and the United Kingdom as well as to regional markets. The report went further to say that trafficking organizations operating in St. Kitts are linked directly to South American traffickers, some of whom reportedly are residing in St. Kitts, and to other organized criminal organizations.
The 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) is an annual report by the United States Department of State to Congress prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade. Volume I covers drug and chemical control activities. Volume II covers money laundering and financial crimes.
The Honourable Dwyer Astaphan, Minister of Security, commented on the report’s credibility.
“Looking at reports over the years, particularly since I have become the Minister of National Security, I have found inaccuracies in the report. I am not going to try to attack the credibility of the State Department or its reporting processes or the people involved in the reporting but I have found some inaccuracies in it,” he said.
“Indeed a couple of years ago when I had the opportunity to speak to an officer who claimed to have written a report for the previous year and I asked him why he didn’t contact relevant agencies in the country to get more accurate information and asked again where he had gotten his information, he referred to a couple of entities in the media, one of which is of a particular political persuasion which I thought was not the most objective source to go to,” Mr. Astaphan said.
Mr. Astaphan went on to say that he doesn’t want this to be misconstrued that he is discrediting or disrespecting the State Department or their report.
According to the State Department report, the “St. Kitts’ Police Drug Unit has been largely ineffective. Insufficient political will and the lack of complete independence for the police to operate are contributing factors.”
Mr. Astaphan did not agree with the assessment.
“The rate of apprehension and the level of efficiency of our Police Force are at least as good as their counterparts in the region, so it’s not to say that only a tip is collected here and the rest of the inventory if you will is passing through untouched,” he said.
Mr. Astaphan said that the State Department’s report cannot be viewed in isolation but rather must be looked at in the context of other small island states of the O.E.C.S. For example the same report stated that in 2007, 464 kgs of marijuana and 5.7 kgs of cocaine was seized in Antigua; 228.6 kgs of cocaine and 4194 kgs of marijuana was seized in Barbados; 353 kgs of cocaine and 181 kgs of marijuana was seized in Dominica; 935.8 kgs of cocaine and 260 kgs of marijuana was seized in Grenada; 792.5 kgs of cocaine and 50.7 kgs of marijuana was seized in St. Lucia and 29 g of cocaine and 7.5 kgs of marijuana in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“The marijuana and cocaine in St. Kitts and Nevis is miniscule compared to the other countries reported for the O.E.C.S. This is not an attack on the other members of the O.E.C.S. This is just the data based on the State Report,” Mr. Astaphan said.
On Jan. 29, 2007, U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced Glenroy Matthew of St. Kitts to 135 months imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. Matthew was the last of four defendants to be sentenced for participating in a conspiracy that was lead by former Jamaican Shower Posse leader Charles “little nut” Miller.
On February 19, 2000, Charles “little nut” Miller was extradited to Miami, Florida to face drug trafficking charges after evading United States Law Enforcement authorities for years. Noel “Zambo” Heath of St. Kitts was extradited to the US at age 56 to face criminal charges. The Federal authorities identified Heath as a key player in drug trafficking.
The Report stated that St. Kitts and Nevis is a party to the Inter-American Convention against Corruption and the Inter-American Firearms Convention, but has not signed the Inter-American Convention on Extradition or the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.
With respect to drug production, Mr. Astaphan said, “One of my concerns is that coming out of sugar, some people are using the cane field for marijuana production.”
This is being addressed, he stated.
Given the 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Minister Astaphan says that National Security is top priority for the Government of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and indeed the region.
“These reports are like teachers marking you hard to keep you on your toes, but there is no need to panic over it. It is a good thing to be kept on one’s toes,” he said.
“I am grateful to the US who is trying to help us to eradicate the drug trade. Drug trafficking is probably the greatest scourge to our economies and societies and it is taking root in the younger generation which is dangerous,” he said.
The entire report can be found at: http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2008/
