Seven people have been arrested and are expected to be charged sometime this week in connection with a drug bust on Andros which led to 1,500 pounds of marijuana being seized.

The drugs were flown to New Providence by a US Coast Guard helicopter and arrived at the Odyssey Airport Wednesday afternoon.
Officer-in-Charge of the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) Assistant Superintendent (ASP) Samuel Butler said the drugs were a part of a smuggling effort that began in Jamaica and the suspects were apprehended in the settlement of Mars Bay.

“We’ve been following intelligence for quite a while with the drug smuggling group and Tuesday we were able to seize a drug vessel along with five Bahamian males with a small quantity of marijuana,” ASP Butler said. “We knew that they were responsible for a greater portion of marijuana hence we continued our investigation. “

“We sent a number of officers from DEU in New Providence into Andros and [yesterday] sometime around 12:45 p.m. we successfully seized and recovered some 1500 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of some $150,000.”

ASP Butler credits the success of the operation to the collaborative efforts of local law enforcement agencies and The Bahamas’ partnership with OPBAT.

“We would want to continue to let the public know that we here at DEU are here to serve and will continue to protect the borders of our country and protect the inner cities of our country and ensure that drugs are removed from our streets and drug prevalence is decreased in major ways,” he said.

The suspects are expected to be arraigned in connection with this matter sometime this week.