REPORT SAYS C'BEAN A MAJOR TRANSIT REGION FOR ILLEGAL DRUGS

UNITED NATIONS (CMC) -- An independent monitoring body for the
implementation of the United Nations international drug control
conventions says the Caribbean continues to be used as a transit area
for the large-scale smuggling of illicit drugs.

In its annual report, issued here on Wednesday, the International
Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said this is the case because of the
region's geographical location -- at the crossroads of the main
producing countries and the consumer markets.

"The region's long coastlines, porous borders and limited law
enforcement and institutional capacity have facilitated trafficking
activities, further compounding the impact of drug-related crime,"
the report said.

"Despite the considerable efforts made by governments in the region,
the drug problem facing Central America and the Caribbean has been
exacerbated by endemic corruption, widespread poverty and high unemployment."

"It is estimated that the street value of all drugs transiting
through the Caribbean alone exceeds that of the legal economy," it added.

The report said that proceeds of drug trafficking have been used to
"bribe public officials, increasing corruption within government, law
enforcement agencies and the judiciary and further undermining
already weak institutions".

In some instances, it said the resources amassed by drug trafficking
syndicates through illicit activities have enabled them to challenge
the government for effective control of parts of the national
territory, jeopardising the state's security and political stability.

The board expressed grave concern about the negative effect that
corruption has had on drug control efforts in the region, urging the
governments to take "urgent measures to combat corruption in all its
manifestations".

It said Jamaica, for instance, has also been affected by significant
drug-related violence, noting that in the summer of 2010, a police
operation aimed at arresting alleged drug trafficker Christopher
'Dudus' Coke led to a stand-off between heavily armed gang members and police.

The report said the gravity of the ensuing violence, which caused
over 70 deaths, prompted the Government of Jamaica to declare a state

of emergency in capital Kingston and mobilise the a large contingent
of armed forces. The suspect was eventually arrested by police and
extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.

The board noted that natural disasters have also posed new challenges
to the drug-prevention efforts in the region, citing Haiti, where a
magnitude-7.0 earthquake in January last year killed upwards of
200,000 people and caused widespread devastation to the country's
fledgling infrastructure.

Before the quake, it said Haiti was "already known to be used as a
major transit area for illicit drug shipments bound for North America
owing to its long and poorly patrolled coastline, as well as the
presence of several clandestine airstrips on its territory".

"The magnitude of the destruction that occurred and the resulting
loss of capacity of the Haitian State have given rise to fears that
the country may be increasingly used as a trans-shipment area for
illicit drugs," the report said.

It said the adoption of strengthened drug law enforcement measures in
many countries has had a "displacement effect" on trafficking routes,
with drug traffickers seeking out the path of least resistance.

This "displacement effect", as manifested by the adoption of new
trafficking routes, has led to a rise in demand for illicit drugs
throughout the region and an increase in drug-related crime owing, in
particular, to the growing prevalence of "payments in kind"; that is,
the commission of crime in exchange for drugs or the exchange of
drugs for different drugs.

The INCB report said illicit drug shipments from South America are
also reportedly passing through the Caribbean to West Africa on their
way to Europe, stating that the primary means of drug trafficking
remain maritime vessels, including go-fast boats, land transport and
light aircraft landing on clandestine landing strips.

The report said that Jamaica remains the "largest illicit producer
and exporter" of cannabis in Central America and the Caribbean,
accounting for about one third of cannabis produced in the Caribbean.

It also said an increased production of the drug has been noted in
other countries, "in particular St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica".

The report said, too, Jamaica has also become "a hub for the
trafficking of cocaine, as trafficking routes have been displaced as
a result of the strengthening of drug trafficking countermeasures in
Latin America.

"Compounding the problem is the fact that Jamaican criminal groups
are exploiting the elaborate networks originally established for
trafficking cannabis to facilitate their attempts to traffic cocaine," it said.

"The Government of the Bahamas has reported that cannabis herb
smuggled out of Jamaica and Haiti using go-fast boats and light
aircraft continues to pose challenges to the country's drug control
efforts," it added.

"Further compounding the problem is the fact that drug trafficking
groups in the Bahamas have formed strategic alliances with
established drug syndicates in producer and consumer countries," it continued.