Police have had major success taking drugs off the streets throughout the country in the first quarter of the year.
According to drug statistics released exclusively to the Bahama Journal, police took 774.95 pounds of cocaine off the streets for the first quarter of 2013 when compared to 122 pounds during this same point last year.
They also took 6.16 pounds of liquid cocaine and five ecstasy tablets so far for 2013.
Last year, police took 3.2 pounds and no ecstasy tablets up to the same period.
According to the statistics, police also confiscated 4,064 pounds of marijuana and 456 plants for the first quarter of 2013 when compared to 2,217.91 pounds and 30 plants respectively in 2012.
Four hundred and forty-five plants were found here in New Providence while five were found in Grand Bahama and the remainder was found in other Family Islands.
A total of 234 drug cases were reported for the first quarter of 2013 which resulted in 194 cases being prosecuted and 40 under investigation, according to the crime statistics.
Police have not had any confiscations of heroin this year.
“It’s attributed to two factors; the first one is the alertness of police officers, both uniform and plain clothes officers particularly those attached at the Drug Enforcement Unit,” Assistant Commissioner of Police, Anthony Ferguson, who is in charge of crime management in the country, told the Journal on Friday.
“The other reason would be the alertness of decent members of the community who provide the police with information. We think we will continue to be successful once we keep this sort of relationship with the public. This is a high priority for us including protecting our borders.”
ACP Ferguson said drugs lead to the escalation of violence in the country.
“This is why I encourage citizens to ensure that all the smugglers and their information are reported so that we can take action,” he said.
“The relationship that we have with our OPBAT counterparts has seen benefits as well and we have been able to do a lot of things.”
In reference to the marijuana plants, ACP Ferguson said that is definitely cause for concern.
“Islands such as Grand Bahama, Andros, New Providence and Eleuthera had significant seizures of marijuana plants so far this year,” he said.
“There is always a cause for concern when we see people trying to cultivate marijuana. We will try to keep this under control.”
According to the statistics, 28 people were arrested for cocaine and 23 people were arrested for marijuana.
The most popular places for drug confiscation so far include Lynden Pindling International Airport, Grand Bahama International Airport and the Freeport Container Port.
The popular islands include Matthew Town Inagua, Grand Bahama, New Providence, Porgy Bay, Bimini and Exuma.
