Haitian Migrants, $2M In Marijuana Seized In Turks And Caicos

According to Royal Turks and Caicos Police Commissioner Edvin Martin, 'The trafficking of illicit contraband, such as cannabis, into the Turks and Caicos Islands is an offense with serious penalties,'

After several boats carrying migrants landed in Turks and Caicos between Aug.16-20, authorities discovered more than $2 million worth of marijuana as they detained 217 undocumented migrants that sailed from the northern coast of Haiti to the island.

According to the Miami Herald, typically, marijuana comes from the opposite coast due to its proximity to Jamaica. This has caused some questions to arise about the origin of the marijuana and how it got into the boats that transported the migrants.

On Aug. 16, 15 migrants and $131,660 worth of marijuana were seized, then the next day, two more boats carrying 41 migrants were discovered along with more marijuana, which totaled approximately $2,704,932.

On Aug. 18, yet another boat was caught near West Caicos. The vessel in question contained 144 migrants who were turned over to the Border Force to be processed and eventually repatriated to Haiti. Later, on Monday morning, at approximately 4:50 am, 17 more migrants were apprehended.

According to Royal Turks and Caicos Police Commissioner Edvin Martin, “The trafficking of illicit contraband, such as cannabis, into the Turks and Caicos Islands is an offense with serious penalties,” Martin continued, saying that the police and other authorities “are resolute in finding the people involved in the smuggling of people and trafficking of illegal drugs and will pursue all leads to bring them to justice.”

According to The Hill, the mission undertaken by Kenyan police and backed by the United States has, so far, been struggling to complete its mission of restoring order to Haiti following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Georges Fauriol, a senior advisor with the Latin America program at the U.S. Institute of Peace, told the outlet that the project is moving slower than most expected.

“This is not moving at the speed that I think everyone expected,” said Fauriol. “The Multinational Security Support (MSS) itself is sort of a three-legged vehicle that is missing a wheel, and everyone’s trying to figure out whether to rebuild the whole vehicle or whether to stop and actually add another wheel.”

According to Robert Fatton, an expert on Haiti and a professor at the University of Virginia, acting Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille needs to take action and make fewer promises.

“Adding 1,500 more troops, that might help. It might prevent further advances from the gangs, but the more you wait, the less legitimate is the government,” Fatton told The Hill. “The prime minister has promised all kinds of things, [but] his promises [have] not materialized at all.

“He runs the risk of overpromising and to generate disenchantment, which probably will eventually occur again in greater instability..So I’m not that optimistic unless there is rightful change.”