The Tribune

IN AN indictment 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.

The 13 people are:

Chief Superintendent Elvis Curtis

Chief Supt Curtis is one of two men who have already been arrested in Florida. His role with the Royal Bahamas Police Force sees him overseeing aviation operations. He supervises airport locations throughout The Bahamas, including the Lynden Pindling International Airport. The indictment alleges that in exchange for “cocaine-fuelled bribes from drug traffickers and their confederates”, Curtis abused his position to facilitate the transportation of narcotics and the proceeds of drug trafficking. This includes by providing safe passage for the traffickers and their cocaine loads through the airport and elsewhere in The Bahamas.

Chief Petty Officer Darrin Roker

The second man arrested in Florida is Chief Petty Officer Darrin Roker, an officer in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. He is accused of using his position to obtain sensitive information about law enforcement operations by the US Coast Guard and OPBAT and to alert drug traffickers in exchange for bribes.

Sergeant Prince Albert Symonette

Sgt Symonette was said in a statement by Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander to be a pensioner with the force, who the commissioner says has been suspended immediately. The indictment accuses him of working closely with Curtis, as well as Bahamian and Colombian drug traffickers, and abusing his position to facilitate the transportation of narcotics and drug trafficking proceeds via air and maritime routes. He is accused of accepting bribes for streamlining Customs clearance for aircraft transporting cocaine into The Bahamas.

Riccardo Adolphus Davis

The indictment reports that Davis is an official in the Bahamian government. He is said to have used his influence with corrupt Bahamian government officials to authorise drug trafficking facilitated by police officials among others.

William Simeon

Simeon is known by a number of aliases – Harvey Smith, William Jacques, Romeo Russell and Dario Rolle. The indictment says he is a Bahamian citizen and a drug trafficker. He is accused of working closely with corrupt police officials to transport cocaine typically by air from South America to The Bahamas, then to transport it into the US typically by boat.

Theodore Nathaniel Adderley

Adderley, also known as Blue, is described as a Bahamian citizen and a drug trafficker. He is accused of working with Simeon, corrupt police officials and others to transport cocaine on the same basis as the accusation against Simeon.

Joshua McDonald Scavella

Scavella, also known as Cow, is a Bahamian pilot accused of working closely with Simeon and Adderley to receive, coordinate and redistribute cocaine shipments. He is accused of coordinating those shipments from various other islands in the Caribbean into The Bahamas, typically by air, while also working for a Bahamian private charter flight company that offers services to Bahamian citizens and foreign tourists. In 2016, The Tribune reported on a case in which he was one of two men accused over the seizure of nearly $2m worth of cocaine on August 22 of that year. Police had searched a chartered aircraft that had just landed at Lynden Pindling International Airport.

Lorielmo Steele-Pomare

Steele-Pomare, also known as Steele, is described as a Colombian citizen and a narcotics broker who introduces Colombian and Bahamian drug traffickers so they can work together in distributing cocaine to the US. He is accused of coordinating cocaine shipments by air and sea and working closely with “multiple corrupt RBPF officials” among others.

Luis Fernando Orozco-Toro

Orozco-Toro is described as a Colombian citizen and drug trafficker who ships cocaine from South America to the US via The Bahamas by air and sea. He is accused of working with his Bahamian drug-trafficking partners, including Davon Revion Khaim Rolle, and “closely with corrupt Bahamian government officials”.

Davon Revion Khaim Rolle

Rolle is said to be a Bahamian citizen and a maritime drug trafficker operating in Nassau and Bimini. The indictment says he facilitates cocaine smuggling into the US, typically by boat including go-fast boats from Bimini to Miami. He is said to have worked closely with another Bahamian, Darren Arthur Ferguson.

Darren Arthur Ferguson

Ferguson, also known as Hubba, is described as a Bahamain who previously operated as a pilot for drug shipments and who now operates as a middleman or broker for drug trafficking. He was previously deported to The Bahamas from the US after being convicted in 2008 and sentenced to 120 months in jail for his part in a cocaine importation conspiracy. In that, Ferguson transported multiple tons of cocaine by air from Colombia through Jamaica and Haiti for delivery to the US. He was caught as part of Operation Busted Manatee, a 29-month-long Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation, with a grand jury returning the indictment against him on February 4, 2004.

Domonick Delancy

Delancy is said to be a Bahamian pilot who flies cocaine shipments from Venezuela, Colombia and various islands in the Caribbean to The Bahamas. As a pilot, he worked for a Bahamian private charter flight company offering services to Bahamian citizens and foreign tourists.

Donald Frederick Ferrguson II

Ferguson is also known as DJ and Billy, and is said to be a Bahamian pilot working closely with Delancy. He is accused in the indictment of carrying drug proceeds, typically by air, to and from The Bahamas. He is also said to have worked for a Bahamian private charter flight company offering services to Bahamian citizens and foreign tourists.