The Jamaican government has responded to international allegations that its law enforcement authorities thwarted Cuban drug interdiction efforts on the high seas.KINGSTON, Jamaica, – After days of silence, the Jamaican government has responded to international allegations that its law enforcement authorities thwarted Cuban drug interdiction efforts on the high seas.
A release from the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) yesterday, Thursday, disclosed that some truth had been found to the allegations after Prime Minister Bruce Golding directed Minister of National Security Dwight Nelson to carry out investigations into the allegations and submit a report to him.
This follows unwelcome international scrutiny leveled on Jamaica’s fight against drug trafficking after the publication on Tuesday of an online release of a reportedly classified internal missive by an official of the US Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, which commented negatively on Jamaica's level of cooperation with Cuba in countering drug trafficking. This information was contained within the flood of diplomatic exchanges that the controversial WikiLeaks website has brought to the attention of the world media, much to the embarrassment of government officials across the globe who have been implicated in un-diplomatic or downright illegal activities.
According to the JIS, Minister Nelson’s investigations confirmed that in 2009 concern was expressed by officials of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior about the failure of the unit within the JCF to adequately respond to communication from its Cuban counterpart.
However, the Jamaican authorities stated that the officer who headed that unit and who had been assigned in 2006 was replaced for and the unit was reorganized and renamed the Transnational Crime Narcotics Division.
“Since then, there has been full and active cooperation between Jamaica and Cuba on counter-narcotics surveillance and interdiction and no concern has been expressed by officials of the Cuban government. This cooperation has since assisted in the conviction of a number of persons on charges of drug trafficking,” asserted the JIS statement.
The release took great pains to point out that relations between Cuban and Jamaican officials have improved, citing a number of visits to Cuba made since then by officers from the Transnational Crime Narcotics Division and other security forces personnel – the most recent being less than a month ago. These visits, stated authorities, were to confer with Cuban authorities on ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking and measures to strengthen cooperation between Jamaica and Cuba. These include greater interface among high level officers of both countries involved in counter narcotics, intelligence sharing and interdiction operations.
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