COCAINE FILES
DEA source held meeting about $30m drugs deal with ‘Politician-1’ inside Parliament Building
By DAVID LEIGH Tribune Editor-in-Chief.
Drug smuggler has firm which ‘bid for and won government construction contracts’
Plane crash survivor Jonathan ‘Player’ Gardiner is alleged cocaine kingpin
daleigh@tribunemedia.net
A HIGH-RANKING Bahamian politician brazenly met with members of what they believed to be an international drug smuggling cartel to discuss a huge upcoming shipment of US-bound cocaine - inside the Bahamian Parliament Building, The Tribune can reveal today.
The politician, identified only as ‘Politician-1,’ allegedly met in October 2024 with an undercover US Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) source posing as a drug trafficker, along with a drug mule pilot, to discuss the shipment said to be worth about $30m. This is the same politician referenced in an explosive November 2024 indictment that alleged widespread corruption in the government and police force related to drugs.
See INSIGHT PAGE 10 ,11 & 12
FNM: BASTIAN AND MILLER-BRICE POSTS MAY BE TESTED IN COURT
By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
THE Free National Movement says the new Cabinet appointments of Sebas Bastian and Leslia Miller-Brice should be tested before the courts if necessary, arguing that the government has not fully explained how two people with known links to
the gaming industry were cleared to serve as ministers under the Gaming Act.
The opposition stopped short of confirming it will take legal action, but said judicial interpretation may be needed to determine whether the Davis administration properly applied the law before the two were sworn in.
COURT - SEE PAGE THREE
MORE than 200 of the world’s leading climate change scientists will descend on Nassau this week as The Bahamas and Bahamas Aviation Climate & Severe Weather Network (BACSWN) hosts this crucial international conference — the largest gathering of its kind ever held in the Caribbean.
Fresh from his election
victory, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis is due to address the panel of experts on Monday.
Staging the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting underscores the country’s commitment to ensuring that frontline nations are not merely subjects of climate research, but active participants in shaping it.
PRIME MINISTER PHILIP ‘BRAVE’ DAVIS
LESLIA MILLER-BRICE
SEBASTIAN BASTIAN
2026 Cabinet Minister roster
Ministers of State
Ministers defend appointments amid gaming law scrutiny
COURT from page one
“The Bahamian people deserve clarity on whether the persons appointed continue to hold gaming interests or financial interests, and if not, when and how they were disposed,” the FNM said. “Accordingly, the Opposition believes this matter should be fully disclosed and, if necessary, tested before the courts so that the law may be clearly interpreted and upheld in the national interest,” the party said in a statement yesterday.
On Saturday, Mr Bastian, the Fort Charlotte MP-elect, was sworn in as Minister of Innovation and National Development, while Ms Miller-Brice, the Seabreeze MP-elect, was sworn in as Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage.
Their appointments have drawn scrutiny because of their links to the gaming sector. Mr Bastian is the former chief executive officer of Island Luck. Ms Miller-Brice’s husband, Leander Brice, reportedly resigned as chief executive officer of GLK Limited t/a A Sure Win Gaming House Operator before her appointment.
The dispute centres on whether the Gaming Act’s restrictions on gaming licences and financial interests were satisfied before the appointments were made.
Section 25 of the Gaming Act says a person may not hold an employment licence if that person is a member of the Cabinet, a member of the Gaming Board or a family member of such a person. Section 26 applies that restriction to certain other licences and financial interests in licence holders, including a financial interest of five per cent or more in the holder of specified licences.
The provisions do not appear to impose a blanket bar on people connected to the gaming industry entering Parliament or being appointed to Cabinet. However, they do raise questions about whether Cabinet ministers, their family members or associates may continue to hold licences, significant financial interests or other arrangements caught by the Act.
FNM chairman Dr Duane Sands said the issue is not merely technical, but goes to transparency, accountability and public confidence in the rule of law.
“The thing speaks for itself. The public deserves an explanation from the Progressive Liberal Party,” Dr Sands said, adding: “Follow the money. Are these individuals now also saying that they are going to forego any income from these businesses, or whether that income is going to be less than five
percent? I mean, there are a lot of unanswered questions.”
Dr Sands said the party has not committed to legal action, but all options are on the table.
He said the government must explain whether the spirit and intent of the law have been followed.
“It seems unusual that the Prime Minister himself, in his previous term, did not feel that Leslia was a fit and proper person to be in the Cabinet,” he said. “Has that changed? While we note the placement of putting assets in trusts, we are obviously interested to know whether or not the
spirit and intent of the law is being adhered to, and so I think the government has some explaining to do.”
Both new ministers have insisted that they complied with the regulatory requirements before taking office.
Mr Bastian stepped down as Island Luck’s chief executive officer earlier this year after he was ratified as a Progressive Liberal Party candidate. On the sidelines of Saturday’s swearing-in ceremony at Government House, he defended his appointment and said he had worked with regulators to ensure compliance.
“The gaming laws are in place, and we would’ve done work with the regulator to ensure that we were compliant and meet all of the regulatory conditions, which were a prerequisite obviously to these appointments, and I am confident that they have been satisfied and any additional questions towards that you can direct those to the Bahamas Gaming Board,” he said.
Ms Miller-Brice gave a similar defence.
“We have taken the proactive steps necessary, we have engaged with the Gaming Board, and so we’ve done all that we can to follow the rules and the guidelines that the gaming board has put in place. Now this gives me and Mr Bastian an opportunity to take on the role of serving
in the capacity as cabinet ministers.”
Office of the Prime Minister communications director Latrae Rahming has directed questions to the Gaming Board, saying the matter will be formally addressed in an upcoming release.
Critics may not be satisfied by referrals to the Gaming Board. Under the Gaming Act, board members are appointed by the minister responsible for gaming, who also designates the chairperson and may terminate a member’s appointment.
Ms Miller-Brice’s links to the gaming sector and its impact on her getting a Cabinet seat had attracted speculation before. She served in the last term as Ambassador to CARICOM and chair of the National Independence Secretariat, but was not appointed to Cabinet then.
In July 2025, she publicly supported amending the Gaming Act, saying she believed the restriction on Cabinet ministers and their families holding gaming licences should be reconsidered. She did not confirm whether she was directly affected.
Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said at the time that there were no plans to amend the law and that Cabinet eligibility rules relating to gaming interests would remain in place.
Prime Minister names Jerome Fitzgerald to Cabinet post
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
JEROME Fitzgerald, whose political career was scarred by controversy over efforts to secure Baha Mar contracts for a company formed by his father, has been returned to Cabinet and placed in charge of economic affairs nearly a decade after the scandal made him one of the faces of the PLP’s vulnerability before its crushing 2017 defeat.
Mr Fitzgerald, a former Marathon MP and education minister who is expected to become a senator, was sworn in on Saturday as Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis began his new term.
His return is not a sudden re-entry into Mr Davis’ orbit. During the last term, he served as a senior adviser in the Office of the Prime Minister, where he was viewed as wielding significant influence, and he also served as the manager of the PLP’s successful re-election campaign.
His most damaging controversy erupted in 2017, when leaked emails showed that while serving as a minister, he sought multimillion-dollar brokerage, trucking and limousine contracts connected to Baha Mar.
Allegations of PLP corruption featured heavily in the Free National Movement’s 2017 election campaign. The FNM won in a landslide, and Mr Fitzgerald lost the Marathon seat.
The emails showed Mr Fitzgerald requesting $20,000 a month from the original Baha Mar developer, Sarkis Izmirlian, citing expenses tied to his father’s medical treatment.
In one 2014 email, Mr Fitzgerald pressed Baha Mar executives to steer brokerage and shipping work to Bahamas Cargo and Logistics, a company formed by his father, after earlier efforts produced little business.
Mr Fitzgerald wrote: “Unfortunately despite all efforts by you and promises to me by Daniel Liu
(CCA’s vice president) that we would receive the brokerage and trucking work, we have not apart from a one time deal to move 40 containers. I do not know why, I am disappointed, but I have accepted it and moved on.
“I know that the interior Furniture and Fittings should begin arriving shortly, and I would really wish to now establish a relationship between Baha Mar and Bahamas Cargo and Logistics Limited (“BCL”) where all ports of entry can be advised that BCL is to collect the paperwork and clear shipments for Baha Mar. It is my hope that the relationship will continue when the hotel opens and we will again be the broker and trucker for this property as we were for so many years.”
Mr Izmirlian forwarded the email to senior management, but said contracts should be awarded based on cost and capability.
At the time, Mr Fitzgerald denied using his office to direct contracts to himself or his family.
“I have no contract with Baha Mar or any of its affiliates, nor do I own any shares in Bahamas Cargo & Logistics, which is a company formed by my father many years ago,” he said.
“Nothing in today’s Tribune contradicts that.
“Sarkis Izmirlian and I have communicated on any number of matters over the past eight years either in person or by email. Prior to my father’s illness, he had engaged in discussions with Baha Mar to get some work. After my father’s illness, I wrote to Sarkis to follow up on those discussions and seek his assistance. Nothing came of it and that remains the case today.”
Another controversy from his tenure involved the 2012 underground fuel leak at the Rubis service station in Marathon.
The leak involved about 12,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline. It was observed in late December 2012 and later investigated by
environmental consultants Black & Veatch.
The firm’s report found that residents were exposed to potentially harmful chemicals, including benzene, a known carcinogen. Although the report was completed on February 20, 2014, it was not publicly released until April 2015 after sustained public pressure and a contentious town meeting.
Marathon residents and business owners were outraged. Critics accused the government of suppressing the report and failing to promptly inform affected residents about the health risks.
Several families filed legal action against Rubis Bahamas and the former operator of the service station at Robinson and Old Trail Roads.
Mr Fitzgerald’s return to public service stirred unease in 2021, when the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit announced that he was its new senior policy adviser and head.
The unit tweeted the announcement, then deleted it. Although Office of the Prime Minister sources initially said the appointment was not finalised, the OPM later confirmed Mr Fitzgerald had joined the team, without specifying his role.
Mr Davis defended him in 2021, saying there was “no harm” and “no foul” over the Baha Mar contract controversy.
He told reporters he had confidence in Mr Fitzgerald’s ability to advise him.
“I am looking for the best and brightest amongst us to help me carry through the big changes I have for this country,” he said. “He is one person I have some confidence in to be able to help me to deliver that.”
Asked then about Mr Fitzgerald’s scandal before the 2017 general election, Mr Davis responded: “What past scandals? What past scandals? Identify what the scandal is and I’ll respond to it.”
When the Baha Mar contract scandal was mentioned specifically, Mr
Davis said: “It was nothing to do with him. There was no harm, no foul in relation to that.”
After Saturday’s swearing-in ceremony, Mr Fitzgerald said he had worked closely with the Prime Minister and Cabinet over the past five years. He described Mr Davis as having a “heart of gold” and said they had achieved a lot together, though much work remained.
“Having travelled through the country over the past ten to 12 weeks, particularly I was able to really talk with a lot of citizens and have a greater understanding of some of the challenges, some of their wishes, their aspirations, and the fact that they want to have a government that provides opportunity for them to learn, to earn, and to own, and so that’s going to be part of our commitment moving forward,” he said. Mr Fitzgerald said he was optimistic about the future and encouraged by the young people who participated in the election, adding that they should remain involved in government planning and decision-making.
New Attorney general Munroe dismisses conflict concerns
By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net
Speaking to reporters, Mr Munroe highlighted his extensive experience as a defence attorney. He noted that he had sued the government and handled constitutional cases involving the government. At one point, he also served as a Supreme Court judge and president of the Bahamas Bar Association.
“Someone made a joke and said, if I have to be in court, they prefer for me to be representing the government than suing the government,” he said. “If
NEWLY appointed Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Wayne Munroe dismissed concerns that his history of suing the government and representing clients charged by the state would create a conflict of interest in his new role. Mr Munroe previously served as Minister of National Security under the Progressive Liberal Party, which won last week’s general election after securing 33 of 41 seats. Mr Munroe, the former MP for Freetown, was the only Cabinet minister who did not retain his seat. On Friday, he was officially sworn into his new post during a ceremony at Government House.
I'm not in government, I'm going to go back to the business that I do, which is civil and constitutional litigation.” When asked whether any lawsuits he pursued against the government were still active, Mr Munroe noted that he had not been in practice for four and a half years. On matters involving his law firm, he said: “You recuse yourself.” In January, former Attorney General Ryan Pinder told reporters that while he was not stepping down, his tenure had officially ended. He also said he had no plans to return to frontline politics, adding: “Don’t hold your breath.”
MINISTER OF CULTURE, ARTS AND HERITAGE LESLIA MILLER-BRICE
MINISTER OF INNOVATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEBAS BASTIAN
ATTORNEY GENERAL SENATOR WAYNE MUNROE
Cabinet line-up changes and appointments announced
By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Philip Davis appointed 21 Cabinet ministers and seven state ministers over the weekend after the Progressive Liberal Party’s landslide election victory.
The 28-member team, in addition to Mr Davis, was sworn in over three days at Government House, completing the formation of the new administration as the Prime Minister begins his second consecutive term.
The expanded executive line-up combines returning ministers, reassigned veterans and new political figures.
Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper has been moved from tourism to serve as Minister of Education, Science and Technology.
Mr Cooper said his new role will focus on shaping the country’s future through youth development and national empowerment. He noted that he was a high school principal for two years.
He also said he expects a constructive relationship with Bahamas Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson.
“We will meet soon, and I am certain that all will be well,” he said, smiling.
Wayne Munroe, who previously served as Minister of National Security, has been moved to the Senate and appointed Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs.
Fred Mitchell returns as Minister of Foreign Affairs, while Michael Halkitis is now Minister of Finance.
Mr Halkitis said Cabinet and civil service teams have been preparing for the national budget, which is scheduled for presentation on May 27. He said the government intends to maintain economic growth while addressing cost-ofliving pressures, continuing fiscal discipline and providing “additional tax breaks” linked to growth while continuing to “give back to the Bahamian people.”
Clay Sweeting has been appointed Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs, while Michael Darville remains in charge
of Health and Wellness.
Glenys Hanna-Martin has been appointed Minister of Tourism.
Keith Bell was sworn in as Minister of Housing and Land Reform, Jobeth Coleby-Davis as Minister of Energy, Utilities and Aviation, Mario Bowleg as Minister of Youth and Sports, Jomo Campbell as Minister of Agriculture
and Marine Resources, Pia Glover-Rolle as Minister of Labour, Public Service and National Insurance, and Zane Lightbourne as Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Mr Bowleg said he accepts his portfolio change and is focused on service.
“I have no ill feelings about it,” he said. “At the
end of the day, there have been some decisions made to shuffle some of the portfolios.”
He added that he is “happy to be in a position to serve the nation.”
Ginger Moxey returns as Minister for Grand Bahama, while Lisa Rahming has been appointed Minister of Urban Renewal and Community
Davis appoints one of largest Cabinets in history
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Philip Davis has given The Bahamas a ministerial team that rivals or exceeds those of larger Caribbean neighbours, placing nearly 30 ministers over a country of about 400,000 people and renewing questions about the size and cost of government.
Mr Davis unveiled a 29-member ministerial team over the weekend after the Progressive Liberal Party’s election victory, appointing 21 Cabinet ministers and seven ministers of state in addition to himself.
The line-up is one of the largest in Bahamian history and is bigger than the 22-member Cabinet Mr Davis appointed after taking office in 2021.
It is also substantially larger than the first ministerial team appointed by the Minnis administration after the Free National Movement won office in 2017, when the government began with 13 Cabinet ministers and three ministers of state.
The new Davis administration
gives The Bahamas roughly one minister for every 14,000 residents, based on a population of just over 400,000.
The figure is striking when compared with several Caribbean countries, including some with larger populations and more complex economies.
Jamaica, with a population of about 2.8 million, has 19 Cabinet ministers and 13 ministers of state, according to current government listings. Even when ministers of state are included, Jamaica’s wider ministerial team is only slightly larger than The Bahamas’, despite Jamaica having about seven times the population.
Trinidad and Tobago, with about 1.5 million people, also has a ministerial line-up in the same broad range as The Bahamas. Its current administration includes Cabinet ministers, ministers in ministries and parliamentary secretaries, but the country’s population is more than three times that of The Bahamas.
Barbados is one of the few small-island peers with a similarly
expansive ministerial structure. Its Parliament currently lists a wide ministerial team of Cabinet ministers and ministers of state, with about 27 members serving a country of fewer than 300,000 people.
Other Caribbean countries operate with smaller ministerial teams.
Antigua and Barbuda, which recently held a general election, has an 11-member Cabinet. Saint Lucia’s official Cabinet list is also smaller than The Bahamas’ new ministerial team, while St Vincent and the Grenadines’ new government has a 17-member team, including 14 government ministers, two senators and an attorney general.
The comparisons show that The Bahamas is not alone among small Caribbean states in maintaining a sizeable executive. However, the Davis administration now sits near the upper end of the region by raw ministerial size, while also having a high minister-to-population ratio.
The size of Mr Davis’ Cabinet was also questioned after the PLP’s 2021 election victory, when he appointed a 22-member Cabinet
and later defended the decision as necessary because of the scale of the country’s problems.
“As we welcome the seven parliamentary secretaries who have just been sworn in, I want to take the opportunity to expand a little on the broad reasoning and rationale behind the Cabinet appointments,” Mr Davis said at the time.
“Our country is in crisis. These challenges are unprecedented in scale and scope, in breadth and depth. First of all, you need to make sure you have a team in place that is heavily focused on the things you wish to get done.
“This is why, in my remarks yesterday, I alluded to the need to put ‘all hands on deck’. Afterwards, members of the press queried the need for the size of Cabinet that I have appointed. It made me realise that I needed to spell out in greater detail, exactly what the job of this Cabinet will be.”
Mr Davis has now returned with an even larger executive team, expanding the ministerial ranks at the start of his second consecutive term.
Development. Myles Laroda is now Minister of National Security, Leon Lundy is Minister of Transport, and Leslia Miller-Brice is Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage.
Sebas Bastian has been appointed Minister of Innovation and National Development.
Mr Bastian said his focus will be on modernising government systems and improving efficiency, adding: “Basically ensuring that we get The Bahamas' future ready, smarter, more efficient and effective operations in different ministries to make the ease of doing business more innovative, as well as drive the national development plan from discussion to implementation.”
The administration also includes several senators appointed to Cabinet-level posts.
Jerome Fitzgerald has been sworn in as Senator and Minister of Economic Affairs and Barbara Cartwright as Senator and Minister of Social Services. Seven ministers of state were also sworn in across the administration.
Bacchus Rolle is State Minister of Social Services, Leonardo Lightbourne is State Minister for Agriculture and Marine Resources with responsibility for BAMSI, Kirk Cornish and Mckell Bonaby are State Ministers in the Office of the Prime Minister, Wayde Watson is State Minister for Innovation and National Development, Darron Pickstock is State Minister for Immigration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Owen Wells is State Minister in Health and Wellness.
Mr Davis said his government is entering a critical phase of delivery and argued that the expanded Cabinet is intended to match the scale of national priorities. He said the administration is “inspired, not daunted” by its mandate under the “Blueprint for Progress,” and urged his ministers to govern with discipline and focus as the government turns to implementation.
MINISTER OF FINANCE MICHAEL HALKITIS
Key prosecution witness denies double-crossing Gibson in trial
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
A KEY prosecution witness denied that she double-crossed and tricked Adrian Gibson and the Water and Sewerage Corporation into believing she was acting on behalf of clients.
Alexandria Mackey, Gibson’s former fiancée, gave the evidence on Friday under cross-examination by defence attorney Damian Gomez, KC, in the ongoing trial over Water and Sewerage Corporation contracts awarded during Gibson’s tenure as the corporation’s executive chairman.
Mr Gomez’s line of questioning focused on contracts issued to Elite Maintenance and her dealings with Tanya Demeritte, one of the company’s shareholders and a witness in the case.
Mr Gomez said: “I put it to you, you were dishonest in your dealings with Tanya Demeritte at the point where she got a criminal record while you walked away scot free.”
The witness denied the claim.
The defence attorney also put it to her that she was dishonest and that, if she had not double-crossed Rashae Gibson, Gibson’s cousin, Rashae would not have retaliated by removing funds.
Ms Mackey said Rashae removed the funds because
Gibson told her to. She said there were no formal written resolutions authorising Elite Maintenance’s expenditures, but maintained that Adrian Gibson could still give instructions to the company because he was its beneficial owner.
However, Ms Mackey agreed that Gibson was not listed as a proprietor on a business licence and acknowledged that, under the Business Licence Act, only those named on a licence are legally recognised as licensees.
The court also heard about a contract between RL Pools and WSC for work on water tanks. The payments included $40,000 for work on one tank and a further $40,000 under a January 8, 2021, subcontract for work on a second tank.
Ms Mackey said she was responsible for the day-today operations associated with the Water and Sewerage Corporation tank refurbishment projects.
She said she could not recall the precise details of RL Pools’ quote, which was approximately $200,000 per tank.
She also testified that she referred RL Pools owners LaToya and Ron Polacek to Ms Demeritte after discussions about the work.
The court heard that Ms Demeritte later requested changes to Elite Maintenance’s business licence and, according to corporate
documents, took over 50 percent of the shares as of late 2019.
Ms Mackey confirmed that Ms Demeritte signed the subcontract for the tank works. However, she said she directed project matters involving the tanks and handled the day-to-day work.
When Mr Gomez put it to Ms Mackey that Gibson never met the Polaceks in person, she said Gibson knew who they were.
Ms Mackey denied that she and Ms Demeritte were attempting to establish their own car rental business, Kingdom Car Rental. According to Ms Mackey, Ms Demeritte also signed for the car payments for SID MAC Rentals.
The court further heard that five vans were purchased and imported, but Gibson’s name was never on the bill of sale or title transfer.
Ms Mackey acknowledged that she never saw Gibson sign the bills of transfer for the vehicles and said the transfer documents were among the records she turned over to police after her arrest.
She also said she was not Gibson’s attorney, although she had performed legal work for him and some of his family members.
The court also heard reference to a truck that Ms Mackey led police to by phone while she was in front of her parents’ home.
Motorcyclist succumbs to traffic injuries
A 43-YEAR-OLD man has died from injuries he suffered in a traffic accident on Queen’s Highway in Halls Landing, San Salvador.
Police said the accident happened shortly after 9am on Friday, April 24.
According to initial reports, an off-duty police officer was travelling south along Queen’s Highway toward his residence and was preparing to turn into his yard when a white Lexus overtook him at a
reportedly high rate of speed.
Moments later, the vehicle came to a sudden stop, arousing the officer’s suspicion. When the officer checked, he discovered that the Lexus had collided with a black motorcycle. The motorcyclist, described by police as a dark-skinned man, was found lying on the roadway with serious injuries.
Police said the Lexus had extensive damage to
its front end and windshield. The motorcycle, which became lodged at the front of the vehicle, was also severely damaged.
Emergency medical personnel took the victim to the local clinic. He was later airlifted to New Providence for further treatment.
Police said they were notified by medical personnel that the man died in hospital around 9.30pm on Friday, May 15.
US citizen allegedly beat and assaulted girlfriend in Abaco
AN American man allegedly bead, threatened and sexually assaulted his girlfriend in Marsh Harbour, Abaco on Friday.
The complainant, a 32-year-old American woman, reported the matter to Marsh Harbour Police Station shortly after 7am on Friday.
According to preliminary reports, the woman told police that around 4am on Thursday, her boyfriend, who is also the father of her child and an American national, entered the suite where she was staying using the code to her room.
POLICE INVESTIGATE FATAL DAYLIGHT SHOOTING ON DUNMORE AVENUE
A 34-YEAR-OLD man was shot dead shortly after arriving in the Dunmore Avenue and Symonnette Street area on Friday. According to preliminary reports, ShotSpotter technology
detected multiple gunshots in the area shortly after 11am, prompting officers to respond. When officers arrived, they were directed to a white Honda CRV, where they found the man slumped over in the front
passenger seat with multiple gunshot wounds.
Emergency Medical Services personnel examined him at the scene, but found no signs of life.
Police said the victim had just arrived and was attempting to park when a
white Nissan Juke pulled up next to his vehicle. The occupants got out and opened fire, shooting him multiple times.
The suspects fled south along Dunmore Avenue, followed by a small red vehicle.
He allegedly beat her about the body, threatened to kill her and sexually assaulted her.
Police said the woman refused medical attention locally, but indicated that
she would seek treatment when she returned to the United States.
Police said they have identified the suspect and are working to take him into custody.
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THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS
Monday, May 18, 2026
Rescued Bahamian turns out to be a
Arrested by US authorities after plane crash, Jonathan “Player” Gardiner was wearing a cross-body bag with three mobile phones and $30,000 inside an envelope labelled with the handwritten name of a prominent Bahamian politician
By DAVID LEIGH Tribune Editor-in-Chief daleigh@tribunemedia.net
THE circumstances surrounding suspected drugs kingpin Jonathan Eric Gardiner’s arrest last Friday reads like something from the pages of a John Grisham thriller, with a bizarre stroke of luck for United States law enforcement authorities leading to his detention after a covert operation spanning at least three years.
Wiretaps, paid undercover sources working for the US Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA), a drugs mule pilot dying when his plane crashed at Rum Cay, and an unnamed Bahamian drugs smuggler said to have $30 million in the bank, four private planes at his disposal, and an airline hangar piled high with cocaine, and, are all part of the plot.
It is not known whether the smuggler referred to is Gardiner. Also astonishing is an alleged meeting with a high-ranking Bahamian politician – the mysterious ‘Politician-1’ – who in October 2024 is said to have met with those he or she believed were involved in a massive upcoming shipment of 1,000-kilograms of cocaine, said to be worth in the region of $30million.
The meeting took place inside the very heart of Bahamian politics - the Bahamian Parliament Building.
The incredible story behind Gardiner’s capture is contained in a newly-released deposition filed by DEA Special Agent Michael Coleman, a member of the agency’s Special Operation’s Bilateral Division, who reveals the workings of operatives like ‘Player,’ Gardiner’s nickname, a drugs distributor named ‘Shorty,’ and a narcotics ‘stash house’ operator known as ‘Tall Dude.’
It sounds like something from the wild, out-of-control, days of the 1980s, when Colombian cartel boss Carlos Lehder turned Norman’s Cay into a heavily armed smuggling fortress during a decade which cast a dark shadow over Bahamian society and fuelled a climate where criminals often felt untouchable as cocaine money drifted through the islands like a toxic tide. But this story occurs in present day.
Special Agent Coleman, an expert in international narcotics and weapons trafficking, paints a picture of The Bahamas continuing to be very much at the heart of massive international drug smuggling operations from South America into the US, despite repeated government promises to clean-up the country’s act after the high-profile arrests of five men in 2024. And it’s centred on the bizarre turn of events which saw Gardiner arrested after he was one of 11 Bahamians rescued after their Election Day flight from Marsh Harbour, Abaco, to Grand Bahama, crash landed in the sea –critically in US air space, and he was picked up by US authorities - after both its engines failed mid-flight, in stormy conditions, and they were left to drift in life rafts for five hours on May 12. When rescued by the US military, 80 miles off the coast of Florida, Gardiner was wearing a cross-body bag containing three mobile phones,
a small quantity of cash, and $30,000 tightly-packed inside an envelope labelled with the handwritten name of a prominent Bahamian politician. Who is ‘Politician-1’? is now the question on everyone’s lips. The name is redacted in a photograph accompanying Coleman’s deposition. US authorities know the name, but whether it has been passed to Bahamian law enforcement, or government, is not known.
with Gardiner, who allegedly supplied narcotics to the gang. In calls, Gardiner identified himself as ‘Gardiner,’ ‘Jonathan,’ or ‘Jonathan from The Bahamas.’
DEA. One, on February 6, reads: “The Lender was inquiring about close out. Shorty wants to take the majority down south today to take care of the guys who brought us across. I am
After winching him to the safety of a rescue helicopter, US Coast Guards quickly discovered Gardiner was a wanted man and had been under surveillance by the DEA as a central character in an international drugs smuggling cartel - despite previously having been jailed in the US for 18 years for similar drug and money laundering offences. But the clock needs to be turned back to 2023, 12 years after being deported, to discover how Gardiner first reappeared on the radar of US law enforcement agencies.
The DEA was investigating ‘multiple’ drug trafficking organisations (DTOs) transporting ‘ton-quantity cocaine shipments by air and sea from Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, through The Bahamas.’ Among DTOs being investigated in 2023 was one based in the US state of Georgia.
Gardiner, it is alleged, was a major supplier of drugs for the organisation from South America which had passed through The Bahamas. The DEA launched a major operation that, over time, involved using two ‘confidential sources’ (CS) to assist their investigation. One agreed to become a source in return for charges against him being dropped - he had been arrested for possession of narcotics and approximately $84,000 in May 2023.
He had previously been convicted of multiple narcotics, fraud, robbery, firearms and immigration offences and was facing a lengthy prison sentence. In other words, he would escape unpunished if he helped the DEA bring in bigger fish.
The other source had a clean record and was in it, it appears, purely for the money.
It is alleged that many calls between Gardiner and different members of the Georgia DTO were wiretapped and intercepted by the DEA. From the interception of a mobile phone used by a drug distributor for the organisation, agents were able to access Gardiner’s Apple iCloud account, it is claimed.
From that, travel and toll records were obtained. Agents also detected that members of the Georgia DTO travelled to and from Nassau for meetings
One of the DEA’s confidential sources is alleged to have procured a large amount of narcotics – approximately 200 kilogrammes of cocaine, worth up to $8 million – from Gardiner.
The DEA agent’s affidavit, filed in the US District Court, Southern District of New York, on Friday claims two Georgia DTO members travelled to Nassau in December 2022 to meet
about half way down myself and I have some drinks for you as well...”
Three days later, one gang member texted another in the early hours of the morning saying: “Stay up, I’ll be pulling off in a second.” A few hours later, at 6.28pm, one gang member texted another: “Fumbling thru this mail. Does Bro have his sorter machine there?” The other man responded “Yes.” Approximately 14
c c ocaine owboy
was still 100% for Florida” because another gang member wanted to book his ticket. ‘Shorty’ responded that he was almost ‘positive,’ but would make a phone call and report back.
Four hours later, ‘Shorty’ said he would leave for Florida on or about February 21.
Another DEA intercepted call recorded ‘Shorty’ speaking in a ‘cryptic manner while discussing various numeric figures’ with a member of the DTO. The man stated he would be sure ‘they’ understood that ‘Shorty’ had ‘30 years of investment in the next few days.’
‘Shorty said he wanted to acquire ‘close to 70’ –believed to mean $70,000. The other gang member allegedly said that Gardiner had called the previous evening but he had missed the call.
On February 20, gang members discussed the collection of drug proceeds for the pending transaction. The DTO leader told ‘Shorty’ that a member - known as a ‘currency transporter’ -would arrive at the boss’s residence the following morning with ‘6-0’ – a reference, the DEA believes, to $60,000 in drug proceeds.
On February 22, plans, according to the deposition, came to a standstill because the supplier – Gardiner, it is alleged - ‘needed
Gardiner and coordinate a large upcoming shipment planned for February the following year (2023).
In January, it is alleged, one gang member texted a colleague saying: “Hit me when you can Bro. ‘Shorty’ says he’ll be in place by Saturday” (January 28.) Two days later, one of the gang texted Gardiner, the deposition claims, ‘Shorty here.’ Dozens of texts between three members of the DTO were intercepted by the
minutes later, at 6.42am, the man texted Gardiner, it is alleged, “Hey doctor Got positive new bro – You’re going to love this situation.”
In his deposition, DEA agent Coleman says based on his training and experience, he believed ‘sorter machine’ was a reference to a money counting machine, commonly used by drug traffickers.
On February 19, on an intercepted call, ‘Shorty’ was asked if “Tuesday
more time.’ The following morning, after the transaction occurred, the gang’s ‘currency transporter’ told the leader he was on his way back to Georgia from Florida. But he said the ‘package was small,’ and he had picked up ‘five to seven units.’
The gang leader said ‘the count’ was supposed to have been double that amount. Later that evening, the gang leader called the ‘currency transporter’
saying the package was ‘not too bad or shabby, and that the package was a niner.’” The DEA believes that refers to the package containing approximately nine kilograms of cocaine.
The following day, the leader called one of his gang members saying ‘Tall Dude’ would be picking up two ‘dinner plates’ that ‘looked ‘pretty nice.’ The DEA believes that refers to two kilograms of cocaine.
Following that shipment, the DEA allege, the Georgia DTO ‘continued to attempt to procure cocaine from Jonathan Eric Gardener, aka ‘Player,’ the defendant.’
They allege that in June 2023, the DTO’s leader ‘engaged in discussions with a DEA confidential source about procuring approximately nine kilos of cocaine, and discussed sending another gang member back to Florida for another shipment that was ‘double’ that amount.
Gardiner, it is alleged, was identified as having ‘the ability to coordinate loads of cocaine of 1,000 kilograms or more, that prior shipments from the source had ‘Bahamian symbols’ on them, and that prior shipments had contained high quality narcotics.
In a DEA-monitored call on June 24, 2023, the Georgia DTO leader explained to another co-conspirator that ‘his source of supply in The Bahamas had four personal planes, was not allowed to enter the United States, was worth approximately $30 million, and had the ability to drop off 200 ‘vehicles’ at a time.
It is not known whether that is referring to Gardiner, who is banned from entering the US after being deported for his earlier convictions. The DTO leader told the co-conspirator than a day earlier he had connected ‘with his source of narcotics via FaceTime, and during the videocall, the source showed him an airplane hangar containing at least 1,500 kilogrammes of cocaine.’
The leader further described the logistics involved in shipping narcotics from The Bahamas to Miami, which ‘included dealing with air traffic control and the coast guard’ and ‘discussed the involvement of corrupt government officials in the operation.’
In July 2023, ‘Shorty’ and another member of the DTO exchanged a text message containing a link to a news article entitled ‘Coast Guard offloads cocaine worth $186M in Miami seized in the Caribbean, Atlantic.’ ‘Shorty’ sent a follow up text saying: “We need somebody else. We need to talk.”
DEA Special Agent Coleman states in his deposition:
“Based on my training and experience, I believe that in his response’ the DTO leader was suggesting ‘they needed to find a source of cocaine other than Gardiner, because based on the article sent, the risk of law enforcement interdiction of shipments from Gardiner was becoming too great.” By June 2024, the evidence gathered by the DEA was deemed sufficient to press charges. A grand jury indictment (a formal accusation that someone has committed a crime issued by a group of citizens
JONATHAN Eric Gardiner
An affidavit filed by a DEA Special Agent on Friday comes after a remarkable turn of events which saw convicted drugs smuggler, Jonathan Eric Gardiner, among 11 Bahamians rescued by the US military when their twin-propellered aircraft plummeted into the sea when both its engines failed during an Election Day storm 80 miles off the Florida coast.
Gardiner – nicknamed ‘Player’ – was wearing a cross-body bag containing three mobile phones, a small quantity of cash, and $30,000 inside an envelope labelled with the handwritten name of ‘Politician-1.’
The name was redacted.
According to the DEA the cash was in ‘bulk Bahamian currency packed in a manner consistent with narcotics proceeds.’
US Coast Guards quickly discovered Gardiner was a wanted man and had been under surveillance by the DEA as a central character in an international drugs smuggling cartel - despite previously having been jailed for 18 years in the US for similar drug and money laundering offences.
He was arrested, and on Friday, appeared in court in Orlando, Florida, charged under US drug laws dealing with attempts and conspiracies involving international drug trafficking offences. Some of the charges relate to a federal procedural law allowing criminal cases to be prosecuted internally even though they happened outside of the US.
The deposition from a DEA special agent also reveals that just two years after being deported from the US, Gardiner’s Bahamian construction company ‘bid for and secured Bahamian government-issued construction projects’ and
According to the indictment, unsealed in November last year, Curtis claimed a “high-ranking Bahamian politician” would assist in moving the drugs with Bahamian law enforcement officials in exchange for a US$2m payment. Again, the politician was not identified. It would appear that Gardiner’s company won contracts despite him being a convicted felon in the US, jailed in 2008 after being charged with 21 separate offences related to an international drugs conspiracy. In 2017, less than two years after returning to The Bahamas, the company of which he is president and a director, New Providence-based Top Notch Builders, was awarded a $34 million ten-year-contract to rent the Eight Mile Rock administrative complex in Grand Bahama, which at the time was being constructed through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement. The contract also included a $535,000 ‘handover fee.’ Reports suggest the deal was one of many multi-million dollar public-private sector partnerships awarded to Top Notch by the government of the time. The contract was awarded under the Christie administration, days before the 2017 general election, won by the FNM’s Hubert Minnis. Gardiner’s extraordinary case is now under the jurisdiction of the US Attorneys, Southern District of New York (SDNY). He is scheduled to appear in court again on Thursday.
Along with the DEA agent’s deposition, the SDNY released a photograph of tightly stacked $100 and $50 notes – part of the $30,000 haul - alongside a bag which has the politician’s handwritten name
used his buildings to launder the proceeds of his narcotics empire.
Gardiner’s arrest appears to connect him to the Georgia-based drug syndicate named in the November 2024 indictment of former Royal Bahamas Police Force chief superintendent Elvis Nathaniel Curtis and others on federal narcotics and firearms charges.
That indictment alleged the group trafficked drugs through The Bahamas and into the United States with help from corrupt Bahamian government officials, including politicians and senior members of the police and defence forces.
One of Curtis’ co-accused, Colombian Luis Fernando Orozco-Toro, 58, knew Gardiner and is said to have told an undercover DEA source, in a secretly videotaped meeting, that “Gardiner was currently building government buildings; and claimed that Gardiner was reportedly trying to keep his involvement below the radar of law enforcement.”
During a meeting on or about November 6, 2024, the DEA operative met with one of Curtis’ co-accused, former RBDF chief petty officer Darrin Roker, and others regarding an upcoming cocaine shipment. Roker ‘accepted a payment of $20,000to assist’ with the cocaine shipment,” the affidavit states. He later pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and was jailed for 48 months.
on it, although it has been redacted with ‘Politician-1.’ A second photograph shows the Caterpillar crossbody bag Gardiner was wearing. It is unclear who the plane was chartered for, why it was chartered, or how Gardiner came to be aboard. Some rescued passengers were reportedly aboard because of a ticketing mix-up involving a scheduled Flamingo Air flight. It is not known who owns the Panama-registered Beechcraft King Air 300 twin-prop plane, although Eric Gardiner is reported to own at least one plane in The Bahamas. To add further intrigue, piloting the aircraft was another drugs felon, Ian Nixon, convicted in Florida in May 2007, of possession and conspiracy to supply cocaine into the US. He was freed in June 2011, then
deported to The Bahamas. His US FAA private pilots’ licence was permanently revoked and although he initially found a job as a pilot with Pineapple Air
on his return to The Bahamas, he was later sacked after his local licence was also revoked. Whether he was flying without a pilots’ licence when the plane crashed last week is not known.
A number of revelations are made in the deposition submitted by DEA Special Agent Michael Coleman into the US District Court, Southern District of New York (SDNY), on Friday. On October 3, 2024, a meeting took place inside Parliament between ‘Politician-1’ and the undercover DEA source and an drugs pilot mule pilot. It is alleged its purpose was to discuss the shipment into the
Continued on page 12
Position Summary:
The Vice President, Engineering & Planning is a senior executive responsible for leading BGC’s overall engineering, system planning, and grid development strategy for the New Providence electrical network and broader system expansion initiatives. Reporting to the Chief Operations Officer, the VP provides strategic leadership in system planning, protection and control oversight, capital development, and grid modernization.
This role ensures the safety, reliability, and future ready development of BGC’s electrical infrastructure by integrating long-term planning, engineering design, operational reliability, and capital investment strategy. The VP serves as the primary technical advisor to executive leadership on system capacity, infrastructure expansion, and network resilience.
Essential Functions:
Strategic Financial Leadership
Lead the development and execution of long term system planning strategies for generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.
• Oversee load forecasting, capacity planning, and system expansion studies to ensure alignment with current and future demand growth.
• Direct preparation of integrated system expansion plans, including feeder, substation, and transmission development requirements. Identify system constraints, infrastructure gaps, and investment priorities to support reliable grid performance.
Power System Analysis & Grid Reliability
• Oversee advanced system studies including load flow, short circuit, voltage stability, contingency (N-1/N-2), and reliability assessments. Ensure engineering analysis supports safe, reliable, and efficient operation of the electrical network under normal and contingency conditions.
• Evaluate system performance under growth scenarios, DER integration, outages, and planned maintenance conditions.
Provide technical direction on system resilience, reliability improvement, and risk mitigation strategies.
Capital Planning & Infrastructure Development
• Lead engineering input into capital planning, budgeting, and long-term infrastructure investment programs.
Evaluate, prioritize, and justify capital projects including substations, feeder upgrades, transmission enhancements, and system automation initiatives.
• Oversee preparation of technical justification reports, engineering studies, and investment business cases.
Ensure alignment between engineering requirements and financial planning with the Finance function.
Protection, Control & System Engineering Oversight
Provide executive oversight of Protection & Control engineering standards, philosophies, and system reliability strategies.
• Ensure protection coordination, relay settings governance, and system security compliance across the grid.
• Support root-cause analysis of system disturbances, outages, and protection mis-operations.
Oversee integration of SCADA, automation systems, and grid control technologies in coordination with IT and Communications teams.
Grid Modernization & Technology Integration
• Lead grid modernization initiatives including automation, digital substations, advanced metering infrastructure, and smart grid technologies.
• Support integration of distributed energy resources (DER), renewable energy, and energy storage systems.
• Collaborate with Cybersecurity, IT, and Operations teams to ensure secure and resilient digital grid infrastructure.
Regulatory, Stakeholder & Executive Interface
• Serve as the primary technical advisor to executive leadership on engineering, system planning, and capital investment matters.
• Support regulatory filings, technical submissions, and compliance requirements with government and regulatory agencies. Represent BGC in technical discussions with consultants, government bodies, major customers, and industry stakeholders.
Leadership & Organizational Development
Provide leadership, direction, and oversight to engineering teams, including System Planning, Protection & Control, and related technical functions.
• Mentor senior engineers and develop technical leadership capability within the organization.
• Drive a culture of accountability, safety, innovation, and engineering excellence.
• Ensure succession planning and capability development within the Engineering Division.
Operations Support & System Response
Provide engineering leadership during system disturbances, outages, storm response, and restoration activities.
• Support real time operational decision-making in coordination with Control Room and Field Operations.
• Participate in emergency response planning and system recovery initiatives as required.
Other Requirements
• Must be available for emergency response, storm restoration, and critical system events.
• Ability to travel to substations, field sites, and operational facilities across The Bahamas.
Must Have valid Driver’s License
• Ability to work extended or irregular hours during outages or major capital projects.
• Must maintain confidentiality of sensitive system and infrastructure information.
Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems Engineering, or a related discipline.
Professional Engineer designation or equivalent professional certification strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 15+ years of progressive experience in power system engineering, system planning, or utility operations, including senior leadership experience.
• Proven expertise in load forecasting, system planning studies, capacity analysis, and grid reliability assessments.
Demonstrated experience developing capital improvement plans, infrastructure investment strategies, and technical planning reports within a utility environment.
What’s In It for You:
Competitive compensation and performance based incentives
• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits
• Retirement savings plan with company matching
• Generous paid time off and leave benefits
• Life and accident insurance coverage
Opportunities for professional growth and career development
• Executive leadership role shaping the future of BGC’s power system, infrastructure, and grid modernization strategy.
• Direct influence on long term capital investment decisions and national energy reliability planning.
Opportunity to lead high impact engineering functions including system planning, protection strategy, and network development.
Applicants please reply to careers@bahamasgrid.net
Deadline: May 22nd, 2026
Cowboy, from page 10 known as a grand jury) charged 14 individuals with federal narcotics offenses involving the importation and distribution of cocaine.
Among those charged were the head of the Georgia DTO, gang member ‘Shorty,’ a drug distributor, a drug and currency ‘transporter,’ and a drug ‘stash house’ operator.
Gardiner was suspected of being a foreign supplier of cocaine to the organisation. Authorities discovered Gardiner, aka ‘Player,’ and ‘Shorty’ spent an overlapping period of time together in a particular US federal prison for previous convictions. It is believed that is where they first made their connection.
On November 26, 2004, an indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York charging 13 individuals with federal narcotics and firearms offences ‘arising out of their participation in trafficking narcotics through The Bahamas and into the United States with the support and protection of corrupt Bahamian government officials, including politicians and high-ranking members of the RBPF and Royal Bahamas Defence Force. Elvis Nathaniel Curtis, 51, who previously oversaw operations at major Bahamian airports, including Lynden Pindling International, and four others, are accused of facilitating the trafficking of cocaine to the US.
According to the indictment, unsealed in November last year, Curtis claimed a “high-ranking Bahamian politician” would assist in moving the drugs with Bahamian law enforcement officials
in exchange for a US$2m payment. The politician was not identified. Also accused as alleged cocaine traffickers are William Simeon, 52, Luis Fernando Orozco-Toro, 58, Ulrique Jean Baptiste, 53, and Lorielmo SteelePomare, 59. Prosecutors allege the scheme, which ran from May 2021 to late 2024, involved paying off “corrupt” officials to allow conspirators to ship drugs to America.
RBPF sergeant Prince Albert Symonette was one of 11 Bahamian men named in the high-profile US federal indictment.
In October 2026, former RBDF chief petty officer Darrin Alexander Roker, 56, pleaded guilty in a New York court for his role in the scheme.
He was sentenced to 48 months in a US federal prison. Roker pleaded guilty to a cocaine importation conspiracy— providing traffickers with law enforcement vessel locations. His sentence was reduced because he is terminally ill with aggressive prostate cancer.
In his affidavit, Special Agent Coleman states: “Starting in or about 2023, the Charged Defendents and other members of the DTO engaged in electronic, telephonic, and in-person communications with confidential sources, who, working at the direction of the DEA, had been posing as associates of an international drug trafficking ring that imports ton-quantities of cocaine into the US for sale and distribution.”
He adds that starting in or about August 2023, RBPF officers connected one of the DEA’s confidential sources with Curtis, who was then a
chief superintendent of the RBPF responsible for supervising airport locations through The Bahamas.
During initial conversations, it is alleged, Curtis offered to, among other things, helped the confidential source and his associates traffic cocaine through The Bahamas.
‘During subsequent meetings, many of which were audio and/or video recorded, Curtis and other DTO members discussed the planning cocaine trafficking, and Curtis and Symonette offered to supply (the confidential source’s) purported drug trafficking ring with armed protection and firearms for their drug loads that transisted through The Bahamas. Special Agent Coleman states that, from his confidential source, he has learned that Gardiner uses multiple mobile phones, that two known drugs pilots have worked for him in the past, and that Gardiner was involved in a drug load in or about 2023 at Rum Cay, during which the plane being used to transport cocaine crashed and the pilot died.
SA Coleman also states that ‘Gardiner owns a business that Gardiner uses to, among other things, bid on Bahamian government-issued construction contracts and launder his narcotics trafficking proceeds.’
He adds that as his affidavit is only being submitted for the ‘limited purpose of establishing probable cause,’ it does ‘not include all the facts that I have learned during the course of my investigation.”
In other words, there is a lot more still to come.
from page 11
drugs pilot mule pilot. It is alleged its purpose was to discuss the shipment into the United States of a massive consignment of cocaine with an estimated street value, at today’s pricing, of $18.6 million.
The identity of the person identified as ‘Politician-1’ by a Special Agent with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), is now once again the centre of intense speculation on numerous social media sites. US prosecutors have again chosen to withhold the name. Whether it has been shared with the Bahamian Government or the Royal Bahamas Police Force is not known.
The allegation came after five men - Curtis, 51, as well as alleged cocaine
traffickers William Simeon, 52, Orozco-Toro, Ulrique Jean Baptiste, 53, and Lorielmo Steele-Pomare, 59 – were charged with cocaine importation conspiracy, possessing and carrying firearms and firearms conspiracy. Prosecutors claim that the scheme, which ran from May 2021 to late 2024, involved paying off “corrupt” Bahamian officials to allow the conspirators to ship drugs to America. All are awaiting trial.
In January, another of those involved in the conspiracy, Darrin Roker, a former chief petty officer with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, was jailed for four years for facilitating cocaine smuggling to the US.
DEA Special Agent Michael Coleman wrote in Friday’s deposition: “Based on my training and experience and my participation in this and other narcotics investigations, the bulk cash recovered from Gardiner’s bag is packed in a manner consistent with narcotics proceeds; moreover, I am aware that the Charged Defendants and other members of the DTO (Drug Trafficking Organisation) have claimed access to, and protection and support from, Bahamian politicians and government officials, and that certain of the Charged Defendants (including Chief Petty Officer Roker) accepted payments in or about 2024 in connection with planned drug shipments.”
New five-year contract gives 460 Bahamasair workers higher pay
By KEILE CAMPBELL Tribune Staff Reporter kcampbell@tribunemedia.net
A NEW five-year industrial agreement valued at about $3.2m has been signed between Bahamasair and the Airport Airline and Allied Workers Union, giving more than 460 workers improved salaries, benefits and working conditions at the national airline.
The agreement, signed on Friday, covers flight attendants, customer service workers, maintenance staff, ground personnel and other unionised employees.
Bahamasair executives and union officials said the deal followed months of negotiations that began in October and produced gains across the airline.
“This agreement represents months of dialogue, careful consideration and meaningful engagement between management and the union leadership,” Bahamasair executive Tracy Cooper said. “Most importantly, it reflects our collective commitment ensuring that Bahamasair remains not only operationally strong, but also a workplace where employees are recognised, respected and supported.”
Mr Cooper said the agreement includes salary scale increases, enhanced allowances, improved leave and gratuity benefits, expanded travel privileges, stronger seniority protections and clearer employment
provisions.
He said Bahamasair also moved to improve recruitment and retention by increasing entry-level salary scales in customer service, IT maintenance, engineering and flight operations.
He said the airline is also planning a training academy and reviewing performance evaluation systems as part of wider efforts to strengthen accountability, employee advancement and service delivery.
Union president Jewel Fountain described the agreement as a “significant milestone” and said every department at Bahamasair secured increases.
“This contract represents a significant milestone in the history of Bahamasair,” Ms Fountain said. “Every department in Bahamasair have gotten increases.”
She said the agreement adds supplements for maintenance and engineering workers as well as dispatch employees, describing both areas as highly technical.
Dispatch workers will now receive licence pay, while approval pay for maintenance and engineering staff has been increased.
Customer service workers also received increased cash handling allowances, while transportation allowances for Family Island workers were expanded.
“With the flight attendants, we have added a grooming allowance and
that is incorporated in the basic pay,” Ms Fountain said. “The cash handling is also incorporated in the basic pay, which will add to their pension fund. And when it comes to national insurance, they will be given better benefits.”
Ms Fountain praised Bahamasair negotiator Ms Winder for her role in the talks, describing her as a strong advocate for education and training within the airline.
“We intend to work with management to ensure that all of the things that were added to this document will improve customer service, improve every department within Bahamasair and the end result, the stakeholders and shareholders alike will be gaining,” Ms Fountain said.
Bahamasair chairwoman Tanya Pratt said the agreement reflected a commitment to partnership and stability at the airline.
“People remain the heart of Bahamasair,” Ms Pratt said. “Our employees’ dedication, professionalism and commitment to service are what keeps this airline moving forward every day.”
She also told staff gathered at the signing that payroll had already been processed.
During a question-and-answer session after the signing, Mr Cooper said the cost of the agreement had already been included in Bahamasair’s upcoming fiscal budget.
AAWU union representatives and Bahamasair officials sign a $3.2m industrial agreement. Photo: Keile Campbell