THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN: GROWING INVOLVEMENT WITH NARCOTICS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 3, 2013
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: August 24, 1988
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5 25X1
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington. D. C. 20505
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
24 August 1988
The Eastern Caribbean: Growing Involvement with Narcotics
Summary
25X1
Narcotics traffickers are increasingly using the eastern
Caribbean to transship drugs to the United States and Western
Europe. Narcotics are most frequently carried through the region
in small amounts on commercial airlines, but recent large
seizures suggest that traffickers are using the eastern Caribbean
for bulk shipments as well, Building on the islands' tradition
of corruption and exploiting high unemployment and other
socioeconomic problems, narcotics interests are using the profits
from expanded drug activity to corrupt government, judicial, and
enforcement officials at all levels. These officials'
willingness to accept drug payments is, we believe, eroding
public confidence and undercutting counternarcotics efforts in
the region. Some governments in the area are currently
considering antidrug initiatives, but their ability to meet the
challenge is constrained by meager resources and a desire to
maintain an image of tranquility to protect trade and tourism.
This memorandum was prepared by
International Narcotics Division, Office of Global Issues, and
South America-Caribbean Division, Office of African
and Latin American Analysis
Information
available as of 1 August 1988 was used in the preparation of this
memorandum. Comments may be directed to Chief, International
Narcotics Division
GI M 88-20087
ALA M 88-20065
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN: GROWING INVOLVEMENT WITH NARCOTICS
The ministates of the eastern Caribbean--by virtue of
location, lax security, and a long history of corruption--are
beginning to play an increasingly important role in narcotics
transshipment.1 The majority of South American drug smugglers
prefer direct routes to the US market, including the Windward and
Mona passages, the Yucatan Channel, and the overland link through
Central America (map). Nevertheless, the frequency and size of
drug seizures in the eastern Caribbean underscore the region's
growing utility to traffickers, particularly when interdiction
efforts are intensified along more traditional smuggling
routes. For example:
-- Since May 1988, police in Guadeloupe have reported
breaking up a large cocaine-smuggling ring operating
regularly from St. Martin.
meanwhile note escalating
narcotics smuggling in the territorial seas of St. Kitts
and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Large drug seizures in the region--including over 400 kilograms
of cocaine in Guadeloupe in 1987 and some 8,000 kilograms of
marijuana in Antigua in 1985--suggest that traffickers on
occasion use the eastern Caribbean for bulk shipments.
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
The eastern Caribbean route has also provided access to
lucrative West European drug markets. US Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) reporting indicates that narcotics destined
for Western Europe are frequently carried on commercial airlines
via couriers in small amounts of from one to five kilograms.
Smuggling operations are enhanced, we believe, by the ability of
traffickers to exploit national and historical ties between the
1 For the purpose of this article, the Eastern Caribbean
includes Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St.
Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the
British dependencies of Anguilla, Montserrat, and the British
Virgin Islands, and the French territories of Guadeloupe,
Martinique, St. Martin, and St. Barthelemy.
GI M 8820087
ALA M 88-20065
2
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
25X1
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5 25X1
25X1
25X1
ministates and the European mainland. Traffickers who ship
narcotics to France, for example, use the French departments of
Martinique, St. Martin, Guadeloupe, and St. Barthelemy to gain
relatively easy access to the continent according to US Consular
officials in Martinique.
In our judgment, the area's dependence on tourism and the
growing importance of free trade zones in the eastern Caribbean
provide excellent cover for drug-smuggling operations. Local
authorities, not wanting to undermine tourism, generally are
reluctant to conduct more than cursory inspections of visitors,
according to US Embassy reporting. In addition, several island
ports have customs-free trade zones, where officials are
prohibited from investigating cargo in transit.
Drug-Related Corruption and Government Officials
Corruption among officials in the eastern Caribbean, long
commonplace in varying degrees, is becoming more pronounced with
the growing availability of drug profits. Officials who have
traditionally used their positions to skim government funds or
collect kickbacks for favors are, we believe, rapidly falling
under the influence of narcotics traffickers. The potential for
large drug payoffs is multiplied by high unemployment and other
socioeconomic problems in the ministates. In this environment,
low wages and other meager perquisites available to police,
customs officers, and other government officials make them
especially susceptible to bribes and, less frequently, to direct
participation in drug smuggling.
The scope of narcotics corruption is suggested by reports
implicating elected or appointed government officials throughout
the eastern Caribbean. In St. Kitts and Nevis, for example, the
Ambassador to the United States relinquished his position in 1987
after being implicated in laundering drug money used to purchase
weapons for the Irish Republican Army, according to Embassy
officials in Bridgetown; the same individual is currently serving
as Ambassador to the United Nations. In Dominica, St. Lucia, and
St. Vincent, minor government officials are profiting from the
influx of drug money, according to US Embassy reporting.
Antiguan government officials in particular appear to be
prime targets for narcotics interests. Ruled for most of the
last four decades by Prime Minister Vere Bird, Sr., Antigua has
gained a reputation as the most politically corrupt nation in the
eastern Caribbean. US Embassy officials in Bridgetown believe
that Antigua has become an entrepot for drug dealers,
transshippers, and money launderers over the past three years and
that money generated from drug activity has contributed to
pervasive corruption among local government officials
In several cases, corruption among judicial officials has
made it difficult to bring charges against traffickers or
3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
25X1
25X6
25X1-
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
government personnel involved in narcotics-related activities.
According to US Embassy officials in Bridgetown, for example, one
of St. Kitts' two local magistrates is suspected of being in
league with the island's largest local trafficker.
the magistrate has been subverted to prevent
the imprisonment or reduce the sentences of several contacts of
traffickers. Judicial corruption also is a growing problem in
the British Virgin Islands, according to the US Embassy in
Antigua.
Such drug payoffs have contributed to a gradual erosion of
public confidence in governments and elected officials in a
number of countries. Charges of drug corruption already have
played a major role in replacing two governments in the area.
The US Embassy in Bridgetown reports that Barbados' Democratic
Labor Party highlighted drug-related government corruption as a
key issue in its successful campaign to unseat Prime Minister St.
John in 1986. In the British Virgin Islands, Chief Minister
Cyril Romney was dismissed by the British Governor-General in
1986 after a financial firm owned by Romney was reported to be
involved in laundering narcotics money, according to US Embassy
officials in Antigua.
Undermining the Security Services
In addition to limited material resources and manpower, we
believe that narcotics-related corruption among low-paid law
enforcement officials has further weakened the fledgling
counternarcotics efforts of several ministates. Reporting from
various US Embassies indicates that in the last five years drug-
related corruption has surfaced in the security forces of
Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and the
British Virgin Islands. There are indications that bribes to
assist or protect smuggling operations extend beyond working
levels to senior security officials in a number of countries.
Corruption also has hampered antinarcotics efforts by
exacerbating the lack of cooperation between the police forces.
For example, the US Embassy in Antigua indicates that the St.
Kitts and Nevis Police Commissioner has refused to exchange
narcotics intelligence because he
suspects that any information will be passed directly to
traffickers.
Outlook
Increased narcotics smuggling and expanding drug corruption
point to a growing threat which we believe the governments in the
eastern Caribbean currently are ill-prepared to challenge. The
fragile economies and weak political institutions of the
ministates are no match for the wealth and influence of drug
4
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
operations are threatened by expanding antidrug programs. 25X1
We believe that increased trafficking activities eventually
could pose a greater threat to democratic institutions in the
eastern Caribbean than in such larger islands as Jamaica and The
Bahamas. More limited economic resources and the small size of
the political and security organizations in the ministates
suggest that the potential exists for drug kingpins to corrupt
and then co-opt virtually an entire government. In 1987, for
example, Union 25X1
Island in the southern Grenadines was near anarchy and, in
effect, was "governed" temporarily by the pardoned leader of an
abortive coup attempt on the island in 1979. His main goal
reportedly was to protect areas on the island set aside for
marijuana cultivation and, according to the US Embassy in
Bridgetown, to extort owners of hotels in the area. The lure of
drug money will be especially difficult to combat because these
countries are likely to face higher unemployment and other more
intractable socioeconomic problems than in Jamaica and The
Bahamas. 25X1
dealers seeking to protect their illicit operations or establish
safehavens. In our view, moreover, corruption of government and
security officials could intensify if traffickers believe their
Instability in Panama's offshore banking industry may cause
several eastern Caribbean ministates to become at least
temporarily more attractive to drug money laundering
operations.2 US Embassy reporting throughout the Caribbean
indicates that money laundering was an emerging problem in
Anguilla, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, and French St.
Martin even before the Panamanian crisis. Since then,
at least one major bank based in
Panama has established a branch in Montserrat. In addition,
a sharp increase in the
formation of shell companies--traditional fronts for money
laundering operations--has occurred in the British Virgin Islands
in the past two months. The gains from these laundering
operations, however, may be only short-lived--particularly if
Panama's illicit banking operations recover. Moreover, we
believe that London, which already has warned its dependencies to
crack down on money launderers, may bring further pressure on its
eastern Caribbean dependencies to halt money laundering
operations.
Concern over the growing narcotics challenge is prompting
government leaders to consider antidrug initiatives which, if
passed, could improve prospects for countering the expansion of
drug trafficking. Several ministates have assembled special
5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
25X1
9)(1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
narcotics units, and most security forces in the region are
benefiting from US assistance and training. Although its efforts
have been hampered by resource constraints and limited
jurisdiction, the Regional Security System--a multinational force
of English-speaking islands initially established to counter
subversion--has employed coast guards from seven member states
for a limited drug enforcement role since 1987. In addition,
regional conferences of law enforcement authorities have resulted
in calls for joint training programs, intelligence exchanges, and
tougher national drug laws.
6
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
Drug Trafficking Routes Through the Caribbean
United States
Gulf of Mexico
Yucatan
Channel
Mexico
Belize
Guller?ala
\
"Honduras
dor
Nicaragua
Cosr:fc.
North
Pacific
Ocean
0 390 Kilometers
0 31:/0 Miles
Bermuda
(U.K.)
North Atlantic Ocean
? The
\Bahamas
To Europe
) --
?...
\ . ,
-Cuba k.
Cj
Turks and Emerging
Caicos Islands,
tish Virgin routes
d
? Cayrkan Do Mican\ ui'lla St. Ma ;nd
'-Islands Windward H iti RepuVic Virgin Is. Ne(Gthue8rdlani? ntilles)
(11:K.Q.._N\s, Passage c:c, (U.S.)
St. Ba hilemy
li 9'
St. s
(U.S.) a ndN is % b
Mont r U.K.)
A ig a d Barbuda
(Gua Aupe)
Jamaica
c(t3o Kittev
ad loupe (Fr.)
iz1Do ma
Caribbean Sea clea Ii igue (Fr.)
? St. Lucia?
Traditional
routes
Panama
uba
Neth.) Netherlands ?
till s
o thle
Colombia
Boundary iaptesentation IS
not necessarily authoritative.
Barbados
Saint Vincent and?
the Grenadines ' Bridgetown
Venezuela
0
ena a
Trinidad
C--7 and
Tobago
Brazil
Guyana
Suriname
714199 (A04878) 8-88
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
2 6 AUG 1988
MEMORANDUM FOR: See Distribution List
FROM:
Director of Global Issues
SUBJECT: The Eastern Caribbean: Growing Involvement with
Narcotics
1. The attached memorandum, The Eastern Caribbean: Growing
Involvement with Narcotics, presents our assessment of the impact
of expanding narcotics activity in the eastern Caribbean. The
paper notes that drug-related official corruption is intensifying
in many of the 14 eastern Caribbean ministates as traffickers
increasingly use the area to transship narcotics to markets in
the United States and Western Europe. We believe the willingness
of government and enforcement officials to accept drug payoffs is
eroding public confidence and undercutting counternarcotics
?efforts.
2. This memorandum was prepared by
International Narcotics Division, Office of Global Issues, and
South America-Caribbean Division, Office of African
and Latin American Analysis, with a contribution by
International Narcotics Division, OGI.
3. Questions and comments are welcome and may be addressed
to Chief, International Narcotics Division, OGI
Attachment:
GI M 88-20087
ALA M 88-20065
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
\ Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
SUBJECT: The Eastern bean: Growing Involvement with
Narcotics
OGI/IND/LA/
ALA/MCD/CA/
Distribution:
25X1
25X1
25X1
1
1
1
1
1
1
- Dr. Donald I. MacDonald, White House/
Office of Drug Abuse Policy
- The Honorable Robert S. Pastorino, NSC
- The Honorable D. Barry Kelly, NSC
- Clarke Brintnall, NSC
- Richard E. Porter, NSC
- Rand Beers, NSC
1
- George Van Eron, NSC
1
- The Honorable Donald P. Gregg, Office of the Vice President
1
- Lt. Colonel Paul W. Lebras, USAF
White House Situation Room
1
- Craig P. Coy, Department of Justice
1
- David Pickens, Department of Justice
1
- Rear Admiral Martin H. Daniell, USCG
NNBIS Southeast Region
1
- Howard Gehring, Director, NNBIS
1
- The Honorable Ann B. Wrobleski, INM, Department of State
1
- The Honorable Elliott Abrams, Department of State
1
- The Honorable Morton I. Abramowitz, INR,
Department of State
1
- Richard H. Melton, Department of State
1
- Robert Fouche, INR, Department of State
1
- Richard H. Solomon, Department of State
1
- David E. Zweifel, ARA, Department of State
1
- Luigi Einaudi, Ph.D., ARA, Department of State
1
- David Smith, INR, Department of State
1
- Mark Ste inetz, INR, Department of State
1
- Jerrold M. Dion, Department of State
1
- Gerald M. Sutton, Department of State
1
- The Honorable John C. Lawn, Administrator, DEA
1
- Richard Bly, DEA
1
- Thomas G. Byrne, DEA
1
- David L. Westrate, DEA
1
- William von Raab, Commissioner, US Customs Service
1
James Shaver, US Customs Service
1
- Henry H. Marsden III, US Customs Service
1
- David Binny, FBI
1
- Charles Domroe. FBI
25X1
25X1
1
- The Honorable Richard
L. Armitage, Department of Defense
1
- Lt. General Stephen Olmstead, USA, Department of Defense
1
- Richard C. Brown, Department of Defense
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for
Release 2013/05/21
: CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
/
SUBJECT: The
Eastern Caribbean:
Growing
Involvement with
Narcotics
25X1
OGI/IND/LA/
1988)
25X1
(24 August
ALA/MCD/SA/
(24 August 1988)
25X1
Distribution:
1 - Captain John C. Trainor, US Coast Guard
1 - Joseph Esposito, AID
2 - Randall Fort, Department of the Treasury
1 - Ann H. Hughes, Department of Commerce
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
\
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved
for Release 2013/05/21 :
CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
SUBJECT:
The Eastern Caribbean:
Growing
Involvement with
Narcotics
25X1
OGI/IND/LA
25X1
ALA/MCD/CA
1
1
1
1
1
1
- SA/DCI
- SA/DDCI
- Executive Director
- Executive Secretary
- D/DCI-DDCI Executive
-DDI
Staff
1
- DDI/PES
1
- C/NIC
1
- C/NIC/AG
1
- NIO/Counternarcotics
1
- NIO/LA
1
- Nb/Warning
1
- NIO/Economics
1
- PDB
1
- D/CPAS
1
- CPAS/ISS
1
- CPAS/ILS
1
- CPAS/SCIO
5
- CPAS/IMC/CB (one copy
sourced)
1
- D/OGI, DD/OGI
3
- OGI/EXS/PG
10
- IND
10
- IND/LA
1
- OGI/SRD
1
- OGI/GID
1
- OGI/FSIC
1
- OGI/ISID
1
- OGI/TID
1
- OGI/ECD
1
- OGI/CTC
1
- SRP
1
- IG
1
- CRES-
1
- D/ALA, DD/ALA
1
- ALA/RD
1
- C/SCD/ALA
1
- DC/SCD/ALA
1
- ALA/MCD
1
- ALA/SCD/E
1
- ALA/SCD/N
1
- ALA/SCD/W
10
- ALA/SCD/CAR
1
- D/EURA
1
- EURA/WE/UR
1
- D/LDA
1
- LDA/AL
1
- LDA/PPD
1
25X1
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5 (
25X1
SUBJECT: The Eastern Caribbean: Growing Involvement with
Narcotics
OGI/IND/LA
ALA/MCD/CA
Distribution:
1 -OCA
1 - OCA/DD
1 - D/ICS
1 - C/FBIS/AG
1 - C/OIR/ACSD/AM
1 - DO
1 - DO/LA
1 - DO/LA
1 - DO/LA
1 - DO/LA
1 - DO,
1 - DO/SE
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/21 : CIA-RDP04T00990R000100780001-5
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1