The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

OVER ninety items believed to have been unlawfully removed from the grounded container barge Brooklyn Bridge have been recovered in Abaco and handed over to Bahamas Customs, as police investigations into the highly publicised looting continue.

According to a Bahamas Customs inventory obtained by The Tribune, about 94 items were received by the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Abaco district and transferred to customs authorities. The goods span food, household, automotive and construction supplies and are believed to have been taken from the barge after it ran aground off North Abaco last month.

Customs officials are focusing their investigation on containers numbered 192 to 195, though it has not been confirmed how many items were originally aboard the vessel.

The recovered food items included boxes of cereal, biscuits, Cream of Wheat, rice, pasta and a case of creatine supplement. Household supplies ranged from hand towels and toilet tissue to detergent and fabric softener. Police also listed construction and hardware materials, including air blowers, rolls of artificial grass, paint rollers, copper tubing, concrete stain, joint compound, condensers and air-conditioning remote controls.

Automotive-related items recovered included 24 tyres, a portable car charger and motor oil.

This news comes as police confirmed the arrest of an adult male from Blackwood, Abaco, in connection with the incident. The man was arrested on December 12 after officers recovered six tyres suspected to have been stolen from the barge.

The grounding of the Brooklyn Bridge quickly escalated into a national controversy after widespread looting was reported. The barge, operated by US-based Trailer Bridge, ran aground near Nunjack Cay after its tow line snapped in rough weather while en route from Jacksonville, Florida, to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Videos circulating on social media showed scores of people converging on the stranded vessel in small boats, climbing containers and throwing goods down to waiting craft in what observers described as a chaotic, daylight free-for-all. Online reaction was sharply divided, with some condemning the looting and others openly celebrating it.

Trailer Bridge later said an estimated 90 percent of the barge’s containers had been compromised following the grounding.

In response, police and Defence Force officers were deployed to secure the area, and a special task force was established to investigate the thefts. Authorities have since laid multiple charges.

Last month, Darren Lightbourne, Ferail McIntosh and Mossell Smith appeared before Assistant Chief Magistrate Ancella Evans after police alleged they were involved in the looting. Lightbourne and McIntosh are accused of stealing items from the grounded barge, while Smith is accused of receiving stolen goods. All three men denied the allegations and were granted bail, with reporting conditions imposed.

Officials have stressed that the cargo aboard the Brooklyn Bridge was not abandoned and should not have been taken, despite assumptions by some residents at the time that the goods were free for the taking.