News Americas, NASSAU, Bahamas, Mon. Oct. 13, 2014: A Bahamas national seeking preclearance for a flight from Nassau to Orlando, Florida has been busted with cocaine.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Bahamas-Nassau Preclearance facility seized one pound of cocaine from a 19-year-old traveler.
CBP officers encountered the Bahamas citizen applying for admission to the United States to board a flight to Orlando, Florida. He was referred for a secondary baggage exam and during the baggage exam, CBP officers discovered four vacuum sealed bundles wrapped in a black plastic bag. Probing of the bundle produced a white powdery substance that field tested positive for cocaine.
The street value for one pound of cocaine in Orlando, Florida is approximately $14,000 to $18,000.The Royal Bahamas Police Force’s (RBPF) Drug Enforcement Unit arrested the traveler upon discovering the contraband.
“We are proud of our officers’ efforts in Nassau,” said Kurry Pastilong, acting deputy director for CBP Preclearance, “This interception further proves that positioning CBP personnel at Preclearance locations better serves the American people by keeping terrorists, criminals, and in this case narcotics, from reaching the United States.”
Over US$173 million worth of cocaine has been seized in the Caribbean sea since January, a News Americas Now analysis of all U.S. Coast Guard drug busts since the start of 2014 has found.
