The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday again avoided reporters’ questions about “Politician-1” in a US Drug Enforcement Administration affidavit and his administration’s links to an election-day plane crash involving convicted drug smuggler Jonathan Eric Gardiner.

The Prime Minister was rushed into his vehicle after an event as journalists pressed him on the allegations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, confirmed yesterday that Bahamian consular officials met with the detained Bahamian, but said no further details could be released because of privacy concerns.

Mr Davis’ silence continues the lack of detailed public answers from officials as new information drips out about the election-day plane crash off the Florida coast that led to Gardiner’s arrest.

Gardiner was among 11 Bahamians rescued by the US military when their twin-propeller aircraft crashed into the sea after both engines failed during an Election Day storm about 80 miles off the Florida coast.

A US DEA affidavit alleges that a Bahamian politician, identified only as “Politician-1,” met with people they believed were members of an international drug smuggling cartel to discuss a major shipment of US-bound cocaine inside the Bahamian Parliament Building.

Documents obtained by Tribune Business show Gardiner swore under oath that, despite being “the president and a director” of Top Notch Builders, he owned no shares in the company, which has gotten government contracts.