News
Big money making in illegal marijuana industry, low grade ‘babbit’ prices astronomical in TCI
#TurksandCaicos – January 17, 2018 – Providenciales – Selling ‘weed’ in the Turks and Caicos is an illegal but lucrative business as prices for a gram of marijuana in the TCI, far surpass many nations in the region including Jamaica, Mexico and Colombia. It seems that like most things in the Turks and Caicos, ‘weed’ just costs more; significantly more.
TCI Police on Monday in Five Cays made a significant drug bust where some 15 pounds of marijuana was seized and two men – a Bahamian and an American – were arrested. The street value of the drugs, legally identified as cannabis in this jurisdiction, is a staggering $68,000 for the fifteen pounds. This equates to $10 per gram or over $4,533 per pound. Comparatively, the Drug Enforcement Unit of The Bahamas and Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States consistently in 2017 put the street value of marijuana per pound at $1,000 following drug arrests in The Bahamas. The price per pound of the contraband often accompanied Police reports on drug seizures.
A 2015 news report on the rising cost of marijuana was among the online posts we reviewed to check and double check the going rates for marijuana per gram and per pound around the world. Price ranges on the marijuana were revealed for six countries, including the United States, Canada, Jamaica, Colombia, Thailand and Mexico and spanned from $600 to $6,000 per pound. California, in 2015 had the most expensive marijuana price tag per pound, getting up to as much as $6,000. However, this price is the top value for top of the line ‘weed’.
In the Turks and Caicos, those familiar with the price of a gram of ‘ganja’ told Magnetic Media that the local weed is low grade, nicknamed, ‘babbit’ and costs between $10 to $30 per gram. That figure is staggering, and actually is five times more expensive than even the finest quality of marijuana.
“The dope here is garbage mostly, as from what I was told but some pushers do get their hand on good dope sometimes.”
Another said, “…the weed ain’t no high grade or Kush. Kush is the highest. (Here) it is low grade and it is called Babbit. Haitian weed don’t be too expensive, Jamaican and American weed is the killer.”
What Magnetic Media uncovered in under an hour was concerning and it may answer at least a part of the question of why some young men resist getting a regular job in the Turks and Caicos. If there is that option of peddling marijuana, we can tally up pretty easily that there is far more money to be made, likely in a shorter span of time, though illicitly.
The two men arrested during a stop and search on Monday were not only found to be with the illegal drugs, but were found to have entered the Turks and Caicos illegally. Perhaps word is already getting out that one gets more bang for the buck in the TCI for mediocre marijuana and the law must be ready.
“The quantity and the quality is important in any case because depending on the type of weed it is, that tells you what the street value is. The highest gets to $20 a gram, the lowest is $5 or $10 a gram.”
The explanations to Magnetic Media about the contrasts and street savvy on the illegal trade lends to new ideas about what could be fueling and funding the illegal sloop landings in the Turks and Caicos, for example. The realities also ramp up the pressure upon leaders from all sectors to do more to discourage illegal behavior among our boys in particular.
It will be difficult though, as we are awakened even further to the fact that one could illegally earn some $22,665 with the sale of marijuana, equating to a 5lbs bag of rice. This earning reality means that the corner drug dealer is making considerably more than the country’s leaders per month. On the other hand, the punishment for breaking the law is also weighty; one could spend up to five or 14 years in Turks and Caicos prison for illegal drug possession and drug trafficking.
Photo credit: Westword
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 19, 2024 – In an attempt to move to 24-hour-a-day operations Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is steadily recruiting Air Traffic Controllers to work at the Providenciales/Howard Hamilton International Airport, according to Godfrey Smith, TCIAA CEO, reporting to the Appropriations Committee.
Speaking on April 8th Smith said a cabinet paper would be sent soon requesting six more Air Traffic Controllers to make round the clock operation at the Provo International possible and to open the airport in Grand Turk till 12 a.m.
Currently, 17 posts are filled and seven are vacant.
Smith was candid with his responses to recent industrial action from ATCs which led to resignations and firings.
“What we have to do is find systems to mitigate such actions and that has to start with filling these jobs, putting people in that want to
work and doing right by people – and we always try to do right by our staff. Persons may not think that we are but we always do – we ain’t pick no fight,” he said in the meetings held at the NJS Francis building ahead of the National Budget Communication.
Smith indicated that recruitment was an issue across the board, ‘we need to find ways to recruit a little bit better’ he told the committee. Also in need of a push was capital spending or projects according to the CEO, who said the agency had ‘not been very good’ at meeting that mark but insisted they had recognized the issue and could do better.
A very important key performance indicator drawn up by the TCIAA is increasing passenger satisfaction at the Howard Hamilton International Airport. For the TCIAA part of this means a 30 percent increase in seating by Q2 of this year.
When queried on if they could even handle this increase the CEO said,
“The fact of the matter is we already have the capacity there. What we need is to make the service a bit better.”
Staff shortages have become such a frustrating issue that the TCIAA is instituting a scholarship program created by Authority Chairman, Selvyn Hawkins
“What the board wants to do is basically allocate $25,000 annually for a scholarship and they’ve approved it already.”
This process would cover tuition and all other costs for one student.
The student would return as a summer intern and other breaks to work at the TCIAA and upon graduation, assume a role at the company.
“We identify a particular skill we need, we go after it and we build capacity that is in a nutshell the nexus of the program,” Smith said.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is allocated $49 million this financial year; over $20 million goes to salaries.
Company delivers fastest speeds nationwide and boosts service reliability
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS, APRIL 19th, 2024 – More connections, faster speeds and greater support for customers. This is the promise from communications and entertainment provider, Flow TCI, as it embarks on an initiative to provide households with enhanced connections, greater overall reliability and now, for the first time, speeds up to one gigabit person second.
FLOW TCI Country Manager, Joanne Missick shared: “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We listen to our customers and want to exceed their demands, so we are focused on delivering unmatched value with customer centric products and services that are future proof. Flow subscribers on our Fibre Extreme package can now access up to one gigabyte speeds and subscribers on our Fibre Plus and Fibre Max package, as of April 1st, are also now benefitting from up to 5x more speeds.”
This is third speed boost for Flow customers in the last two years. This comes under the umbrella of the the Company’s recently launched “Working for You” campaign, where technicians are going into the neighborhoods across the island to conduct repairs, decommission copper cables, and increase the brand’s visibility in local communities.
“To date several neighborhoods have been served by technicians and the company will continue to go across the islands to ensure each neighborhood receives personal attention. We recognize that over the past few months some customers have experienced issues with the quality and delivery of our services. This is not what we stand for. Flow remains committed to providing technology and innovation
that enables growth and positively impacts lives”, says, newly appointed Head of Technical Operations, Simeon Thomas.
Thomas adds, “We have been closely monitoring and reviewing every aspect of our network and there is room for improvement across each of the islands. Where we find shortcomings, we are taking concrete actions and assigning our technicians to rapidly make all necessary adjustments and improvements for our customers”.
Flow has made significant investments in expanding and modernizing its infrastructure and delivering a more robust and reliable network paving the way for the country’s digital transformation.
For more information on speed increases visit https://www2.discoverflow.co/turks-and-caicos/price-adjustment-speed-increase on our website.
Thank you for your usual assistance in sharing our stories.
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