The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER National Security Minister and FNM candidate Marvin Dames said he has not been called in for questioning in connection with a drug trafficking probe involving his former employee, whom he described as a young man who took the wrong path after he and his wife gave him a chance to improve his life.

Malcolm Goodman, a boat captain who worked for Mr Dames, was arrested on February 11 after US authorities allegedly found an estimated $4 million worth of cocaine on a boat he was operating near Florida that was owned by Mr Dames and his wife.

Goodman has pleaded not guilty to the offences but is expected to reverse course, according to his lawyer. US authorities said Goodman admitted he was solely involved in the smuggling of narcotics.

Mr Dames has previously maintained his innocence in relation to the matter and continued to defend himself yesterday as he answered questions from the press for the first time since news of Goodman’s arrest broke.

He said he is working to retrieve his vessel.

He said Goodman was “never really a business partner”, but rather an employee whom he and his wife had given an opportunity to improve his circumstances.

The two had entered into a business arrangement in 2024.

Mr Dames compared the situation to lending someone your car or allowing an employee to use your vehicle, only for them to be caught with illegal items inside.

He argued that the owner should not be blamed for another person’s actions and asked why he should be punished.

“The real question that we need to be asking as a people is why do all so many of our young men continue to fall through the cracks, despite the help that people like me continue to offer?” he said after filing his nomination papers yesterday. “I have been doing this most of my life.”

“My wife and I gave a young man an opportunity to make better of his life. He decided to take the wrong path. Should I be punished for that?”

Nonetheless, he said the entire ordeal was a lesson learned for him and his wife, but said it would not deter them from helping others.

He also revealed that he and his wife continue to pay a “significant loan” they took out for the boat, but added that the controversy has not harmed their business relationships.

He said he has never been the subject of any investigation and accused what he called “paid surrogates” of the PLP for attempting to change the narrative.

“Did we know that something like this was gonna happen?” he asked. “No we didn’t but I'm not discouraged by this. Others are trying to paint a picture, just the minority, for their own personal gain. They’re trying to paint a picture that Marvin Dames is involved in some sinister act. I say to you, if you have the evidence, come in the open and bring it because when I come, I coming with receipts.”

He said he had been silent on the issue because he refused to answer “garbage.”

“I’ve never been a part of the subject of any investigation ever in my entire life, okay?” he said. “I've never been asked to come and sit down and give information or evidence or anything related to crime, other than me taking the bad guys down.”

Mr Dames, a former Deputy Commissioner of Police who later served as Minister of National Security under the Minnis administration, said he can travel anywhere in the world and go to places where some politicians in this country allegedly cannot go today.

He questioned why the media has not been reporting on people he described as known drug traffickers and criminals walking on the streets with police-issued permits to carry concealed weapons, saying those were the kinds of issues that should be highlighted.

“Let’s not get sucked in by garbage that people are putting out there,” he added.