Political opposition figures in the Bahamas are calling for a formal investigation following accusations by a United States federal agent linking an unnamed senior politician to drug trafficking activities.
According to court documents, a suspected drug dealer who lived through a recent aircraft accident near Florida was found carrying approximately $30,000 in cash stored in a bag marked with an unidentified high-ranking Bahamian official’s name.
The individual in question had been sent back to the Bahamas over ten years ago following convictions for drug and money laundering offenses. Federal authorities now accuse him of moving cocaine from the Bahamas into the United States. Court filings from May 14 in the Southern District of New York detail allegations that he met with the unnamed politician at Nassau’s Bahamian Parliament building in October 2024 to discuss arrangements for moving approximately 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of cocaine. The documents claim the politician “could provide security for the planned cocaine shipment” and was presented to another unnamed suspect as a “future associate.”
These accusations add to mounting troubles for the Bahamas, where the police commissioner stepped down in December 2024 following the indictment of a sergeant and two officers in what federal prosecutors described as “a massive cocaine conspiracy enabled by corrupt Bahamian government officials.”
Michael Pintard, who leads the opposition Free National Movement party, stated Monday that he doubts the Bahamas’ prime minister, who won reelection on the same day as the plane crash, will take action against those involved.
“We issued warnings about the close relationship between members of this administration and characters of interest to police locally and internationally,” he told reporters.
Latrae Rahming, spokesman for the office of the prime minister, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Tuesday.
“If the prime minister has not spoken to it, I don’t want to be the first one to address a matter of that significance,” he told local reporters on Monday.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Michael Coleman asserted in his deposition that multiple drug trafficking organizations are ferrying loads “under the protection of local officials” in the Bahamas.
He alleged that the suspected drug trafficker who survived the plane crash owns a business he uses to “bid on Bahamian government-issued construction contracts and launder his narcotics trafficking proceeds.”
Coleman said the suspect was one of 11 people who survived the crash off the coast of Florida late last week. He was rescued and later arrested.
The DEA agent said the agency has been investigating drug trafficking organizations operating in countries including the Bahamas since roughly 2022.
Dr. Duane Sands, chairman of the Free National Movement party, told The Nassau Guardian newspaper on Monday that the current administration was bringing shame and embarrassment to the Bahamas as he called for a commission of inquiry.
“The Bahamian people are entitled to know,” he was quoted as saying. “The heart and soul of our country are at stake.”
