Bahamas accuses ‘rogue’ US agents of years of unauthorized operations
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Officials in the Bahamas have accused "rogue" DEA agents of executing illicit operations on Bahamian soil, raising the matter with the Trump administration last week, the country's ambassador to the U.S. stated on Thursday.
Bahamian representatives formally lodged the grievance on Friday during a Washington meeting with the U.S. Department of Justice, according to Wendall Jones, the Bahamian ambassador to the US.
The issue threatens to strain U.S.-Bahamian law enforcement collaboration and revive questions over national sovereignty, as a major U.S.drug trafficking prosecution rattles politics in the Caribbean nation.
The Bahamas is not the only country raising such objections. In April, Mexican officials alleged that two U.S. agents who died in a vehicular crash that month were working in the country without authorization.
U.S. investigators have indicted more than half a dozen Bahamians over the last 18 months, including senior members of the nation's police and defense forces. They are accused of taking part in an operation smuggling drugs from South America through the Bahamas into the U.S.
Jones noted that those indictments did not factor into the Bahamas' complaint alleging illegal Drug Enforcement Administration operations.
"We made a general complaint of the behavior of rogue DEA agents in the Bahamas who operate without the consent of the government or the Royal Bahamas Police Force, and that is a matter of law, a matter of treaty," Jones said in an interview.
The DEA stated it is committed to working with Bahamian authorities to dismantle drug trafficking organizations that pose a threat to the region.
"DEA personnel operate under the authority and oversight of the U.S. Chief of Mission, which governs U.S. law enforcement investigations in the Bahamas," a DEA spokesperson said.
The U.S. State Department and the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The Bahamian newspaper the Tribune first reported the grievance, quoting U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas Herschel Walker, who dismissed the accusation as "fake news."
A close U.S. ally located just 50 miles from Miami, the Bahamas authorizes seven DEA agents to operate in the country, Jones said.
Jones did not estimate how many DEA agents are believed to be operating without Bahamian government authorization, but said it has happened "over the many years," adding that the Trump administration told Bahamian officials it would investigate the matter.
