The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Digital Editor

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Minister of Health and Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Dr. Duane Sands has condemned the revelations of US indictment alleging a widespread conspiracy to smuggle tons of cocaine from The Bahamas to the US,  involving senior law enforcement officials, calling it a "horrible moment" for the country.

Outside Parliament this morning, Dr Sands demanded immediate action from the Davis administration as allegations outlined in the U.S. federal indictment have plunged the nation into a “crisis of confidence”.

"I think this is a horrible moment for our country," Dr Sands told reporters. 

"There's clearly a crisis of confidence that goes all the way up to the commissioner, to the Minister of national security, to the Prime Minister, to the cabinet. I think the Prime Minister, when he speaks this morning, needs to be to give us a full throated, fulsome explanation of why, on their watch, they have allowed the reputation of the Bahamas to sink to such a low."

In anindictment filed by the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York, 13 people are named as being involved in a conspiracy to smuggle tons of cocaine through The Bahamas into the United States. The list includes law enforcement officials, a government official, and drug smugglers.

Prime Minister Philip Davis is expected to address Parliament on the matter this morning.

For his part, Dr Sands called for the immediate resignation of Mr Munroe and the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF).

Dr Sands said: "This is a crisis. This is a moment where we will see whether or not we are, once again, a nation for sale or whether this administration will wait until the Free National Movement once again has to restore the reputation of this country."

Based on the indictment, the scheme was well underway in 2021 during the then-Minnis administration. 

When asked to respond to this, Dr Sands said: "Let the chips fall as they may. Whomever is involved, there should be no sacred cow. Anybody who has bought this country to this level deserves the full weight of the law."