The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Davis administration yesterday said it will again ask the US government for information about explosive allegations linking an unnamed politician to an international drug trafficking probe, even as a promised independent corruption watchdog remains unestablished.

The statement from the Office of the Prime Minister followed The Tribune’s exclusive report on details contained in a US Drug Enforcement Administration affidavit tied to the arrest of convicted cocaine smuggler Jonathan “Player” Gardiner.

It also makes clear America’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has kept the government and local law enforcement completely in the dark regarding a major three-year narcotics investigation, much of it with undercover ‘co-operating sources’ working on Bahamian soil.

The affidavit alleged that the politician met in October 2024 with an undercover DEA source posing as a drug trafficker and a drug mule pilot inside the Bahamian Parliament building to discuss a cocaine shipment allegedly worth $30m.

A statement from the OPM acknowledged they did not know the identity of ‘Politician-1’ – the subject of widespread speculation throughout The Bahamas.

“To date, the government has received no official information identifying any public official in relation to this matter,” the OPM said yesterday, breaking its silence on the latest allegations.

“The position of the government of The Bahamas remains that wherever wrongdoing is established, any person involved will be held accountable without fear or favour, and the chips will fall where they may.”

Yesterday’s statement from Mr Davis’ office said that the government takes the allegations seriously and will pursue the matter as it conducts its own inquiries.

Meanwhile, former House Speaker Halson Moultrie said it would be difficult for the government to review surveillance footage of Parliament to see who met with “Politician-1” unless the alleged meeting occurred in the public gallery.

“It’s difficult for the government to check it, but I believe that the government should be very concerned about it because we cannot allow our most sacred chambers and institutions in our government to be desecrated by such activities and by such individuals,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the US Coast Guard for rescuing Gardiner and the other Bahamians aboard the aircraft, saying it is fully cooperating with authorities through diplomatic, consular, legal and treaty channels.

The ministry said it continues to seek consular access to Gardiner and will remain engaged with US authorities on the matter.Gardiner was among 11 Bahamians rescued by the US military after a twin-propeller aircraft crashed into the sea during an Election Day storm.

The US Coast Guard later discovered that Gardiner was a wanted man and a key figure in an international drug trafficking network under a three-year undercover DEA surveillance operation, despite previously being jailed for 18 years in a US prison for drug and money laundering offences.When rescued on May 12, he was allegedly carrying three mobile phones and $30,000 in Bahamian currency “packed in a manner consistent with narcotics proceeds.” 

The cash was inside an envelope labelled with a handwritten name of a politician whose name was redacted by US prosecutors.

The politician is the same unnamed figure referenced in the explosive November 2024 indictment issued by the US Southern District of New York.

That indictment alleged the unnamed politician was expected to authorise Bahamian law enforcement to facilitate a $2m cocaine trafficking scheme into the United States.The latest DEA affidavit went further, alleging that the politician met inside a Bahamian Parliament building with people he believed were involved in drug trafficking.

The allegations have intensified questions about drug trafficking, political access and corruption in The Bahamas, while prompting opposition calls for a commission of inquiry.The Davis administration previously sent a diplomatic note requesting further details about the unnamed Bahamian politician mentioned in the case after the allegations first surfaced. 

However, officials have repeatedly said their requests for information went unanswered, and Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis appeared frustrated by the lack of details during a luncheon with pastors in December 2024.

Mr Davis initially condemned the allegations and pledged commitment to anti-corruption efforts.His tone shifted last April, when he told reporters the American operation appeared, on the surface, to involve entrapment. 

Mr Davis suggested the officers named in the indictment may have been deliberately lured or manipulated into participating in the scheme.

“That whole operation is concerning to me, because on the face of it, it appeared to be, it appeared to be an entrapment of officers, and that is concerning,” he said.

The administration had passed an Independent Commission of Investigations bill following the November 2024 indictment, saying it would target corrupt senior government officials. However, the watchdog has not yet been established. 

In recent months, former Attorney General Ryan Pinder did not respond to The Tribune’s questions about the body's status.

The commission was pitched as a way to investigate serious misconduct involving police, defence force officers, corrections officers and specified public officials, including parliamentarians. Its absence leaves the administration without an independent body with clear investigative teeth, forcing it back onto diplomatic requests and vague local inquiries as fresh allegations again raise questions about public officials and drug trafficking.

Critical questions remain unanswered, including who owns and chartered the downed Panama-registered Beechcraft King Air 300 twin-prop aircraft and why Gardiner was on board, allegedly with thousands of dollars.

A rescued passenger claimed that Kingsley Smith, the PLP MP for West Grand Bahama, told them he would arrange a chartered flight from Abaco to Freeport.

However, Mr Smith declined to answer when contacted by The Tribune on Monday.