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Read storyPolice accused of drug dealing
Sources within the police force say corrupt officers are selling the drugs they confiscate.
On Tuesday, a source within the Royal Bahamas Police Force told The Tribune that agents in the Drug Enforcement Unit ¬¬are some of the country’s biggest suppliers of cocaine and marijuana.
One of the sources said drugs often go missing from the police forensic lab, DEU holding site or evidence room.
In addition, he said, some arresting officers confiscate drugs but don’t report it, pressure offenders for bribes or turn in less drugs than are actually found during arrests.
-Tribune (Page A01)
Read storySources told The Tribune that police prosecutors are being paid to ensure that important files go missing.
According to “well placed sources”, officers are getting up to $5,000 to make sure that cases - including rape, gun and drug matters - never make it to court.
The sources said officers “on the take” have several methods, including telling the court that evidence is not ready, forcing the matter to be adjourned.
According to one of the sources:
“This is the norm. This is not just an isolated incident. It’s with firearms, drugs-you would have files sent, the magistrate would sign the summons, they are stamped but certain prosecutors would hide them away in the office, put them in files that have already been completed or just lose them and then get paid.”
The offenders can earn between $1,000 and $5,000 for their efforts.
The source said that persons are given the wrong court date, which can lead to the case being thrown out when they don’t show up.
The source also said that some of the officers in the warrants section are more concerned with repossessing cars for the local banks than picking up suspects.
He said there are cases of people paying “almost like a salary” so they won’t get picked up.
More corruption revelations are expected from The Tribune in Thursday’s edition.
-Tribune (Page A01)
Read storyDetective Sergeant Weymond Demeritte told a court why he arrested a policeman and his stepson for cocaine possession Tuesday.
Demeritte said he found a kilo of cocaine after searching a bag that had come on a Sky Bahamas flight from Haiti.
Authorities suspect the bag belonged to Jacoby Knowles, 25. Demeritte arrested Knowles and released him, pending further investigation.
The policeman went to Joseph’s home on December 8 last year. When they knocked, Knowles came to the door with his 36-year-old stepfather, Policeman Wilson Joseph.
Police then confiscated Joseph’s cell phone during a search. Recordings of phone calls from a phone registered to Joseph have already been presented as evidence in the matter.
Demeritte is the final prosecution witness in the trial, which continues on April 15.
Joseph has been suspended from duty and place on half-pay pending the matter’s conclusion.
-Full Story
Read storyEXUMA: Americans who posted photographs of themselves eating Iguanas and undersized conch on the online network facebook were fined $1,000 Tuesday.
Alexander Rust, a 24-year-old from Indiana, and Vanessa Palm, a 23-year-old from Illinois, pled guilty to charges of possessing undeveloped conch and taking a prohibited wild species.
The pair told Magistrate Ivan Ferguson they did not know the animal was protected. Ferguson excused Palm but ordered Rust to pay fines or serve jail time.
Rust was fined $800 or four months for the conch charge and $200 or two months for the iguana charge.
Bahamas National Trust Director Eric Carey said he was pleased that the pair were convicted but disappointed that they did not get the maximum penalties - $5,000 or one year for the conch and $300 or six months for the iguana.
Carey wants two other men, also shown in the photographs, to be charged. Police say they are still investigating.
-Tribune (Page A03)
Read storyOfficers accused 106 people of traffic-related offenses during a five-hour operation at the Marathon and Robinson Road intersection recently.
In addition, police arrested three people with outstanding warrants, one for disorderly behavior and one for threatening a police officer.
-Tribune (Page A05)
Read storyA fire cut television and internet services in about 150 homes on Monday.
Cable Bahamas said a power cable fell on one of their cables which led to the cable catching on fire. This stopped service in the Winton and Camperdown for nine hours - 9.30am and 6.30pm.
Bahamas Electricity Corporation general manager Kevin Basden said a dump truck had dragged an electrical line into the cable line.
Cable Bahamas operations manager Lester DeGregory said the problem has happened before, “around twice a year and it is usually right at that same location, but in this incident it also burnt the cable further down”.
Basden said he was not aware of a similar failure in the past.
-Tribune (Page A05)
Read storyCaribbean films will be showcased all week at Galleria Cinemas on John F Kennedy Drive.
For the second year, the Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase will feature films with a special interest on children and teenagers from the region.
Productions from 16 countries are featured, including Belize, Cuba, Columbia and Jamaica.
You can view Invisible, one of the films featured, by clicking here.
The mini-documentary features a woman and her daughter, who are both HIV-positive.
It was produced in Trinidad and Tobago by Elspeth Duncan.
-Tribune (Page A06)
