Carib Scope

分类： world

  • Researchers say conch, lobster and grouper stocks overfished

    Researchers say conch, lobster and grouper stocks overfished

    A landmark 73-year analysis led by Sea Around Us researchers has delivered a stark warning for The Bahamas’ marine ecosystems: 11 out of 12 of the nation’s most culturally and commercially vital seafood species are now categorized as overfished, with most being harvested far faster than natural populations can replenish. Published in the peer-reviewed journal *Frontiers in Marine Science*, the findings validate long-held anecdotal concerns from local Bahamian fishers, who have reported declining catches of iconic species for decades.

    To build their dataset, researchers reconstructed total catch records stretching from 1950 through 2022, offering one of the most comprehensive long-term assessments of Caribbean fisheries ever conducted. The 12 species evaluated represent the backbone of The Bahamas’ seafood economy and cultural identity. Among the at-risk populations, Nassau grouper and yellowfin grouper were ranked as “grossly overfished”; queen conch, Caribbean spiny lobster, hogfish, black grouper, rock hind and wahoo fell into the “overfished” category; and lane snapper, mutton snapper and gray snapper were listed as “slightly overfished.” Only one species — dolphinfish, more commonly known as mahi mahi — was found to have a stable, healthy population.

    The results carry profound implications for The Bahamas, a nation where seafood is central to both domestic food security and a tourism-driven economy. Across the 73-year study period, researchers estimated that a total of 1.3 million tonnes of seafood were harvested from Bahamian waters, averaging 17,500 tonnes per year. Just two species — Caribbean spiny lobster and queen conch — made up more than half of that total catch: lobster accounted for 33% (around 425,000 tonnes) and conch for 21%. Both are now officially overfished, with lobster populations at just 61% of the biomass required to support long-term maximum sustainable yield, and queen conch at 59%. Maximum sustainable yield is the scientific benchmark for the largest catch that can be maintained indefinitely under stable environmental conditions.

    Reef-dwelling groupers and snappers showed the most alarming population declines of all species assessed. Yellowfin grouper, the most imperiled species in the study, was found to have only 40% of the biomass needed for sustainable harvesting. Nassau grouper, which has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2015, was measured at just 49% of the required sustainable biomass. Data shows Nassau grouper catches exceeded maximum sustainable yield for nearly 40 years before populations collapsed from their mid-1990s peak, and the species has yet to show any signs of recovery in the decades since.

    Breaking down catch contributions across the fishing sector, the study found that recreational fishing — including tourism-focused charter boats, sportfishing operations, and visiting angling groups — accounted for 46% of total historical catch, the largest share of any segment. Industrial fishing, centered primarily on export-focused spiny lobster operations, made up 26% of total catch, while small-scale artisanal fishing for local markets contributed 23%, and small-scale subsistence fishing accounted for the remaining 5%.

    The study’s clear findings intensify pressure on Bahamian fisheries regulators, who have long struggled to manage iconic seafood industries hampered by incomplete population data, inconsistent enforcement of fishing rules, and persistent high public demand for local catch. Dr. Krista Sherman, study co-author and researcher at the Perry Institute for Marine Science, emphasized that the overfished status of key species creates direct risks for domestic food access. “These species are the backbone of The Bahamas’ domestic seafood supply, supporting commercial and subsistence fishers across the islands and anchoring local food security,” Sherman explained. “Their overfished status means fewer fish in local markets and on local plates unless targeted management action is taken. These assessments not only improve our understanding of the status of key fisheries but also provide a critical foundation for the sustainable management of these valuable resources moving forward.”

  • Russische drone raakt Chinees schip bij Oekraïense kust

    Russische drone raakt Chinees schip bij Oekraïense kust

    On the night between Sunday and Monday, Russian forces launched one of the largest cross-border strikes against Ukraine in recent months, deploying 524 drones and 22 missiles across multiple target areas. Among the attack targets were two civilian cargo vessels sailing in the Black Sea off Ukraine’s Odesa region, a critical Black Sea shipping and economic hub that has faced repeated Russian bombardments on civilian infrastructure since the full-scale invasion began.

    According to Ukraine’s maritime port authority, the two vessels struck by Russian drones were flagged under different jurisdictions: one to the Marshall Islands, and the other to Guinea-Bissau. The Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, the KSL Deyang, is owned by Chinese interests and carries an all-Chinese crew. Russian drone attacks left part of the ship’s hull charred and damaged, but the Ukrainian navy confirmed no crew members sustained injuries in the strike. The ship was approaching Pivdennyi port in the Odesa region to load a cargo of iron ore concentrate, and remained seaworthy enough to continue its planned voyage after the attack.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a statement via social media following the incident, emphasizing that Russian command must have been fully aware of the Chinese ownership of the vessel when the strike was ordered. Attacks on civilian shipping in the Odesa port area have become a regular tactic for Russian forces since the full-scale invasion launched in February 2022, with Moscow repeatedly targeting infrastructure and commercial vessels to disrupt Ukraine’s critical agricultural and mineral export routes through the Black Sea.

    The incident comes at an unusually sensitive moment in geopolitical terms, falling just 24 hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to travel to Beijing for high-level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The ongoing full-scale war in Ukraine is expected to top the agenda for the bilateral meeting. China has maintained an official stance of neutrality since the invasion began, repeatedly calling for ceasefires and negotiated peace settlements while avoiding explicit public condemnation of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

  • Eli Fuller Says Wife Broke Ankle Trying to Get Child to Safety During Saturday’s Quake

    Eli Fuller Says Wife Broke Ankle Trying to Get Child to Safety During Saturday’s Quake

    A magnitude 6-plus earthquake that rattled the eastern Leeward Islands last Friday has left one Antigua resident with severe injuries, after she risked herself to get her young child out of their shaking home. The quake, which triggered widespread panic across Antigua and Barbuda as well as neighboring island nations, sent Angela Fuller rushing to carry her two-year-old toddler downstairs to safety when the ground began to roll violently. According to her husband, Eli Fuller, Angela fell during the chaotic escape. Though the toddler walked away from the incident unharmed, Angela suffered critical damage to her ankle that will require surgical intervention.

    Eli Fuller shared that after the accident, local medical providers stepped in quickly to support his family. He extended public gratitude to the team at Woods Radiology, the local urgent care facility, and attending physician Dr. “Snowy” Wiik for their prompt care following the injury.

    Unlike many large seismic events in the region, Friday’s quake did not leave a trail of widespread destruction across the Caribbean. Regional emergency management agencies have confirmed that there are no widespread reports of additional injuries or major structural damage to buildings and infrastructure across the affected area. Officials have also ruled out any tsunami risk connected to the tremor, though they have warned local residents that smaller aftershocks remain a possibility in the coming days.

    For Eli Fuller, the traumatic incident is far more than a personal injury—it is a critical reminder of the ever-present seismic risk that communities across the Caribbean face. The entire region sits atop multiple active tectonic plate boundaries, giving it a long and well-documented history of destructive major earthquakes. Fuller pointed to two of the most significant historic seismic events that have shaken the area in modern history: the massive 1843 Guadeloupe–Antigua earthquake and the 1974 temblor that centered near Antigua, both of which caused widespread damage across the region. His hope, he says, is that his family’s experience will encourage other local residents to refresh their emergency preparedness plans for future seismic events.

  • Column: Hoeveel leed kan een mens verdragen?

    Column: Hoeveel leed kan een mens verdragen?

    Across the globe, ordinary people are enduring unthinkable hardship that leaves even the most hardened observers shaken. In the Gaza Strip, families dig frantically through the rubble of flattened homes, clinging to the faint hope of pulling loved ones alive from the destruction. In Ukraine, civilians go about their daily lives under constant threat of bombardment, watching as artillery and missiles reduce their homes, communities, and lifelong possessions to ash. In Sudan, escalating armed violence has torn apart entire communities, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes in search of safety from unpredictable, ever-present threats. On the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, the Ebola virus continues its relentless spread, claiming new lives even as frontline responders work to contain the outbreak. These are not isolated tragedies—they are just a handful of the crises that leave the world bending under the weight of widespread pain, uncertainty, and irreversible loss.

    Rarely does this suffering emerge from nowhere. Its roots run deep, embedded in long-running armed conflicts, bitter political power struggles, stark global economic inequality, and centuries-old historical divisions that continue to fuel division today. In some cases, competing geopolitical interests and external intervention have exacerbated tensions, while in others, systemic domestic injustice has pushed vulnerable communities to the breaking point. But no matter the underlying cause, one brutal, unavoidable truth remains: it is ordinary, everyday people who pay the highest price. They lose their lives, their homes, their livelihoods, and the hope for a better future that many take for granted.

    This widespread, unrelenting pain forces the world to confront a haunting, unavoidable question: How much suffering can one human being endure? Is there a hard limit to human resilience, a breaking point even the strongest among us cannot cross? How many losses, how many sleepless nights of fear, how many tears can a heart hold before it shatters? Even more pressing than that question is another: What are we, as a global community, doing to ease this pain and stop the cycle of suffering?

    Yet even in the darkest of these crises, glimmers of extraordinary resilience emerge. Stories abound of people who continue to love, to care for their neighbors, and to hold onto dreams of peace and justice, even when they have lost almost everything. They stand in solidarity with one another when all hope seems lost, proving that human connection can survive even the most devastating circumstances. But this inherent resilience is not infinite. Long-term, unrelenting suffering can break even the most resilient people, and there is a very real danger that despair will eventually take hold if the world continues to stand by.

    As global citizens, we cannot and must not look away. Every story of pain is a call to uphold our shared humanity, a demand for meaningful action. Change does not come from empty words of sympathy—it requires tangible action that makes a real difference in the lives of those suffering. It is our collective responsibility to ease suffering, to bring light to places shrouded in darkness, and to nurture hope where despair threatens to take over.

    There may be no simple, clear answer to the question of how much suffering the human heart can bear. But meaningful change begins with recognition: recognition of the pain that exists, empathy for those who endure it, and acceptance of our shared responsibility to uphold human dignity for all people, regardless of where they live. For as long as there is hope, there is a future—and as long as there are people suffering, we can never afford to stay silent.

    How much suffering can a human being endure? Perhaps the answer is this: as long as the rest of the world fails to act to ease that pain, it is always more than any person should ever have to bear.

  • The Silent Metamorphosis of Haiti (report)

    The Silent Metamorphosis of Haiti (report)

    Against the backdrop of one of the most severe crises Haiti has faced in modern memory, a quiet but powerful wave of change led by the nation’s young people is unfolding across the country, according to a new report published this week. Titled *The Silent Metamorphosis: How Haitian Youth Are Reinventing a Nation’s Future*, the report was officially launched on May 14, 2026 at Port-au-Prince’s Quisqueya University, produced as a collaboration between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Haitian development firm Group Croissance, and local policy organization CEDEL Haiti.

    Co-written by Xavier Michon, UNDP’s Resident Representative in Haiti, and Kesner Pharel, noted economist and chief executive of Group Croissance, the report pushes back against the pervasive global narrative that frames Haiti only through the lens of chaos, instability, and widespread vulnerability. Instead, it outlines a series of tangible economic, social, technological, and civic shifts already underway across the nation, all driven by Haitian youth who are operating far outside the scope of mainstream media and international policy attention.

    The core argument of the report rejects the common debate of whether Haiti’s young generation has the capacity to reshape their nation. “The question is not whether these young people are capable of transforming Haiti. They are already doing so,” the authors emphasize. The real pressing question, they argue, is whether Haitian national leaders and their international partners will choose to proactively back this grassroots movement, or continue to overlook its potential to drive long-term recovery and progress.

    To address this gap, the report puts forward a clear three-stage strategic roadmap that is designed to operate effectively even amid Haiti’s current weakened institutional landscape. The plan outlines immediate, quick-action interventions for the first two years, followed by targeted structural investments to scale momentum between years two and five, and large-scale transformative development projects for the longer term, five years and beyond.

    Ultimately, the report frames this quiet youth-led transformation not as a distant, hypothetical hope for Haiti’s future, but as a tangible, already-existing opportunity that only requires recognition, intentional investment, and intentional amplification to deliver widespread, lasting change for the Caribbean nation. The full 68-page report, published in French, is available for public download via HaitiLibre’s official website.

  • Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks sign of our ‘dangerous’ times — WHO

    Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks sign of our ‘dangerous’ times — WHO

    GENEVA, Switzerland — Against a backdrop of escalating global instability and mounting institutional pressure, the World Health Organization kicked off its 2026 annual World Health Assembly on Monday, with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus opening the gathering by framing two recently emerged infectious disease outbreaks as just the latest warning signs of a fractured, high-risk world.

    Tedros pointed specifically to two pressing public health events: a new Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which he formally declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern just over the weekend, and an unusual outbreak of hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, which forced an emergency evacuation off the coast of the Canary Islands last week. These two outbreaks, he told assembled health ministers and senior diplomatic delegates from more than 190 member states, are far from isolated incidents. “From protracted conflicts to simmering economic crises, accelerating climate change to deep cuts in global development aid, we are living through an era that is difficult, dangerous and increasingly divisive,” he said, noting he would expand on these risks in his keynote address to the week-long assembly Tuesday morning.

    Spain, which stepped in to allow the virus-stricken MV Hondius to anchor off the Canary Islands for evacuation after multiple other countries turned the vessel away, has drawn widespread international praise for its response. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez used an unexpected guest address to the assembly to underline the core logic of collective global health action, drawing a standing ovation from delegates. “Protecting others is the most effective way to protect ourselves,” Sánchez argued, adding that no nation can insulate itself from transboundary health threats on its own. He went on to decry what he called a growing “pandemic of egoism” in global politics, saying that “today, defending common sense has itself become an act of rebellion.”

    The 2026 assembly comes at one of the most challenging junctures in WHO’s 78-year history. The institution has been reeling from the announced withdrawal of the United States, its largest single contributor, alongside deep across-the-board funding cuts that have forced major restructuring. Swiss Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, opening the assembly alongside Tedros, outlined the scale of the financial crunch: WHO’s core operating budget has been cut by roughly 21 percent, equal to nearly $1 billion, forcing hundreds of layoffs and scaling back critical public health programs around the world. Even so, she noted that the organization has managed to implement deep, structural institutional reforms while continuing to respond to simultaneous emergencies. Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, agreed that WHO has so far weathered the immediate storm, adding that the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak offers a stark reminder of the global need for a well-supported, impartial and trusted global health authority. “This crisis is a clear illustration of why the world needs an effective, trusted, impartial, reliably-funded WHO,” Moon said.

    From the opening hours of the assembly, geopolitical friction was already on display. Member states for the consecutive year rejected a proposal to add Taiwan’s request for observer status to the assembly’s agenda, a decision that follows long-standing diplomatic pressure from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory. Taiwan held observer status at the assembly from 2009 to 2016, but has been excluded every year since. Other highly sensitive geopolitical issues on the assembly’s agenda this year include the ongoing health crisis in war-torn Ukraine, the collapsing health system in occupied Palestinian territories and growing tensions over public health cooperation with Iran, all of which are expected to spark heated debate over the course of the week.

    Beyond geopolitics, long-running divides between high-income and low- and middle-income countries have stalled progress on WHO’s landmark global pandemic preparedness and response treaty, which was first launched in 2023 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Member states had originally aimed to finalize a critical annex to the agreement during this year’s assembly, covering rules for sharing virus samples with pandemic potential and ensuring equitable access to life-saving tools like vaccines, tests and treatments developed from those samples. But multiple diplomatic sources confirmed this week that negotiators have failed to bridge core divides, and will likely agree to extend negotiations for another 12 months.

    The future status of the United States and Argentina, both of which submitted formal withdrawal notices in 2025, also remains shrouded in ambiguity. Former US President Donald Trump submitted a mandatory one-year withdrawal notice on his first day back in office in January 2025, and Argentina followed shortly after. Unique among international organizations, WHO’s founding constitution does not include formal provisions for member state withdrawal, and the organization has so far declined to officially confirm either departure.

    When the US joined WHO in 1948, it reserved the right to withdraw following a one-year notice period, on the condition that it fulfills all outstanding financial obligations for the fiscal year. While the one-year notice period expired this January, Washington still has not paid its 2024 and 2025 assessed membership dues, owing the organization roughly $260 million. When WHO’s executive board met in January, Israel submitted a formal procedural resolution to approve Argentina’s withdrawal, which will go before the full assembly this week, but no similar resolution was submitted for the US withdrawal. Multiple diplomatic and institutional sources familiar with the discussions say there is broad agreement among member states to keep the US’s status ambiguous, rather than formalizing its exit.

    A major focus of this year’s assembly will be a proposal to launch a formal, comprehensive reform process for the so-called global health architecture — the fragmented, overlapping network of global, regional and national health bodies that often fail to coordinate effectively during cross-border crises. Six years after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed deep gaps in global preparedness and coordination, many leaders are calling for a systemic overhaul. “Six years after the last global pandemic, COVID-19, the world health architecture is changing rapidly,” Ghana President John Dramani Mahama told the opening plenary. “We are witnessing the end of an era. We must have the courage to build the next one.”

  • Víctor Atallah officially installed as president of the World Health Assembly

    Víctor Atallah officially installed as president of the World Health Assembly

    In a landmark decision that underscores the Dominican Republic’s rising profile in global public health governance, the Caribbean nation has been elected to lead the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA), the World Health Organization’s top decision-making body. The unanimous vote took place during the opening plenary session of the assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, which named Dominican Public Health Minister Víctor Atallah to the one-year presidential post.

  • Dominican Solidarity with Haiti marks Flag Day with a call for peace and cooperation

    Dominican Solidarity with Haiti marks Flag Day with a call for peace and cooperation

    On the annual observance of Haiti Flag Day, a Dominican-based civil society organization, Dominican Solidarity with Haiti, has issued a formal statement reaffirming its unwavering support for the Haitian people while reflecting on the island nation’s profound legacy in global freedom struggles.

    Released publicly on Monday, the statement opened with a heartfelt tribute to the iconic revolutionary figures who laid the foundation for Haiti’s independence as the first Black republic in the world. These trailblazers, including Cécile Fatiman, Dutty Boukman, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Alexandre Pétion, led the groundbreaking Haitian Revolution that ended colonial rule and slavery on the island more than two centuries ago. The organization emphasized that the revolution sent a ripple of inspiration across the entire Americas, fueling anti-slavery uprisings and independence movements that reshaped the regional political landscape for generations. It further highlighted Haiti’s often-overlooked contribution to South American liberation, noting the critical material and strategic support the nation provided to Simón Bolívar during his campaigns to free multiple South American territories from colonial control.

    Beyond its historical reflection, the statement turned to the pressing challenges confronting Haiti today. The organization acknowledged that the Caribbean nation is currently grappling with an unprecedented crisis marked by surging gang violence, systemic political collapse, and widespread social instability that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and left basic services inaccessible for much of the population. Addressing ongoing international debates over external intervention in Haiti’s affairs, the group made clear that any path toward a lasting, sustainable peace must be led entirely by Haitian citizens, with full respect for Haiti’s national sovereignty and no unwarranted outside interference.

    In closing, the organization called for deeper cross-border collaboration and collective solidarity between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, two neighboring nations that share the island of Hispaniola. It stressed that building a peaceful, productive relationship between the two countries hinges on mutual respect for national boundaries, universal human rights, and a shared commitment to peaceful coexistence that benefits all people living on the island.

  • Plane crash survivor is alleged cocaine kingpin

    Plane crash survivor is alleged cocaine kingpin

    What began as a routine ocean rescue off Florida’s coast in May 2026 unfolded into a dramatic twist that has sent shockwaves through Caribbean law enforcement and political circles: the capture of one of the world’s most-wanted alleged cocaine kingpins, thanks entirely to an unforeseen accident. Jonathan Eric Gardiner, a 50-something Bahamian man with a prior drug trafficking conviction in the U.S., was one of 11 passengers forced to ditch their Election Day flight from Abaco to Grand Bahama after both engines failed mid-flight during a storm. For five hours, the survivors drifted in life rafts 80 miles off Florida’s coast – in U.S. airspace – until the U.S. Coast Guard winched them to safety. When agents checked Gardiner’s identity, they discovered he had been a top target of a three-year undercover DEA investigation into a massive international drug trafficking network, and he was immediately taken into U.S. custody.

    The full, extraordinary details of the case are laid out in a newly unsealed deposition from DEA Special Agent Michael Coleman, a veteran of the agency’s Bilateral Special Operations Division. Coleman’s filing reads like a modern thriller, complete with paid confidential informants, wiretapped communications, coded text messages, a dead drug-smuggling pilot, a crashed plane on Rum Cay, and an allegation of a secret meeting with an unnamed high-ranking Bahamian politician inside the Bahamian Parliament Building in October 2024. That meeting, allegedly held to coordinate an upcoming 1,000-kilogram cocaine shipment valued at roughly $30 million, has left unanswered questions about potential high-level corruption that echo the dark drug-smuggling era of the 1980s, when Colombian cartels turned Bahamian islands into smuggling fortresses.

    The DEA’s investigation traces back to 2023, when agents launched a probe into multiple drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) moving multi-ton cocaine shipments from South American producer nations including Colombia and Venezuela through the Bahamas, then on to consumer markets in the United States by air and sea. One of the primary groups under surveillance was a network based in Georgia, and investigators quickly identified Gardiner – who uses the street nickname “Player” – as the network’s primary South American cocaine supplier. Gardiner had previously served 18 years in a U.S. federal prison for drug trafficking and money laundering, before being deported back to the Bahamas 12 years before the 2023 investigation began. The DEA also confirmed he first connected with key Georgia DTO member “Shorty” while both served time in the same U.S. prison.

    To build their case, DEA agents recruited two confidential informants to infiltrate the network. The first, a repeat offender with prior convictions for narcotics, robbery, fraud, firearms and immigration offenses, agreed to cooperate in exchange for having pending narcotics charges – which included 84 kilograms of seized cocaine and $84,000 in cash – dropped entirely. The second informant had no criminal record and agreed to work exclusively for financial compensation. Over the course of 18 months, agents intercepted hundreds of wiretapped calls and text messages between network members, gained access to Gardiner’s Apple iCloud account via a seized device belonging to a DTO distributor, and tracked cross-border travel between Georgia, Florida, Nassau and other Bahamian hubs.

    Coded communications intercepted by agents reveal a steady stream of large-scale drug transactions. In one early 2023 shipment, agents intercepted messages referencing “sorter machines” – a coded term investigators confirm refers to money counting machines common in drug trafficking operations – and “dinner plates”, which translate to kilograms of cocaine. In June 2023, the Georgia DTO leader told a co-conspirator during a monitored call that his Bahamian supplier – who was barred from entering the U.S., had four private planes, an estimated $30 million net worth, and maintained a hangar full of cocaine – had shown him 1,500 kilograms of the drug via FaceTime. While the indictment does not explicitly confirm that this description refers to Gardiner, it matches details of his background as a deported convicted trafficker. The leader also explained that the operation relied on corrupt Bahamian government officials to bypass air traffic control and coast guard inspections.

    By June 2024, the DEA had gathered enough evidence to secure a grand jury indictment charging 14 members of the network with federal narcotics trafficking and conspiracy charges. The arrest of Gardiner, however, would not come for another year, until the unexpected plane crash placed him directly in U.S. law enforcement’s hands. When agents searched Gardiner after his rescue, they found he was carrying three cell phones, a small amount of cash, and an envelope holding $30,000 handwritten with the name of a prominent Bahamian politician. That name has been redacted in public court filings, leading to widespread speculation about the identity of the mystery “Politician-1” first referenced in the October 2024 Parliament Building meeting allegation.

    This case is not an isolated incident, Coleman’s deposition emphasizes. In November 2024, U.S. authorities unsealed a separate 13-defendant indictment charging a different Bahamian-based drug trafficking network with smuggling cocaine into the U.S. with the protection of corrupt politicians, senior Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) officers, and high-ranking Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) personnel. That scheme, which ran from 2021 to 2024, saw former RBDF chief petty officer Darrin Alexander Roker plead guilty in October 2026 to conspiracy to import cocaine, after admitting he shared law enforcement vessel location data with traffickers. Roker, who is terminally ill with aggressive prostate cancer, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison. RBPF sergeant Prince Albert Symonette and former RBPF chief superintendent Elvis Nathaniel Curtis – who previously oversaw security at Lynden Pindling International Airport – are also among those charged in that case, with allegations that Curtis arranged for a $2 million payout to a high-ranking Bahamian politician in exchange for clearing large drug shipments.

    Coleman notes that the current affidavit submitted to the court is only intended to establish probable cause for Gardiner’s detention, and does not include all evidence gathered during the three-year investigation. When Gardiner was arrested after the crash, he was already facing indictment for his role as the foreign supplier for the Georgia network, and additional charges are expected as the investigation unfolds. For Bahamian authorities and the public, however, the biggest remaining question is one that has not been answered: who is Politician-1, and will the full details of alleged political complicity in modern Caribbean drug trafficking finally be made public?

  • 46 children, adults kidnapped in southern Nigeria schools attack—Christian group

    46 children, adults kidnapped in southern Nigeria schools attack—Christian group

    LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — A coordinated, multi-school attack in southwest Nigeria last week left 46 people, the vast majority of them children between the ages of two and 16, in the hands of kidnappers, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) confirmed Monday in an update on the brazen assault.