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Crime

Multiple Murders in Turks & Caicos  

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Statement by Commissioner of Police Trevor Botting

 

 

#TurksandCaicos, June 19, 2023 – “I am addressing you from Police Headquarters on the 14th of June regarding serious crime, specifically the number of murders for 2023, in light that there have been 3 murders in the last 10 days.

The 7th murder for 2023 was committed last night in Five Cays and I spent time with the family of the person killed as well as visiting the scene.

I do understand the concerns that are being expressed by our communities and the level of fear that is being felt, particularly in the communities where the violence is taking place.

We do not lose sight of the human loss that each murder brings so we are not complacent and we are determined that those committing these terrible crimes are identified and arrested.

As ever, we need your help and you can do this anonymously through crime stoppers or by talking to my dedicated team of trusted officers who work covertly and discreetly in handling information. We want you to tell us what you know to help us get Justice for those victims who have lost their lives. With your help, we can make a difference within our communities.

Given the 7 murders for this year under active investigation, I am somewhat limited in what I can say. However, I can report that Luiz ROSARIO has been charged with the offence of murder of Stephen Baker who was killed on Grand Turk in January.

In more general terms, what I can say about the murders is:

We of course maintain an open mind as to the circumstances and motive for each incident and we work with the evidence. At this point, we believe that 2 of the 7 murders are not directly connected to serious crimes and are individual offences.

We also believe the other 5 are linked to criminality but not necessarily connected. There is no evidence uncovered to date that suggests the murders have been committed by the same person or persons but we have not ruled that out.

Please be reassured that we are not complacent and remain resolute and committed to keeping criminals on the back foot.

I and my Force Executive Colleagues have met with the National Security Council this week to keep the members briefed on crime and our response and, following last night’s murder, I personally briefed the Governor and the Premier last night and this morning. It is important to note that Premier has indicated his continued support for policing and he stands ready to assist the Force as we deal with the current surge in murders.

I, therefore, wish to share with you what we are doing in response to the current crime situation.

To ensure that our resources directly match the demand, we:-

  1. Have reviewed our response resources to support intelligence-led operations based on demands. You will see more police officers and policing activity within those communities most affected
  2. Additional Force Leaders will be supporting the front-line delivery of policing and our police officers as they do their difficult jobs.
  3. 9 recently experienced officers, recruited from across the region will arrive this week and will be deployed almost immediately to increase our capacity, most notably within the Tactical Unit.
  4. 18 Officers who finish their initial training next week will be on the streets of the TCI as soon as possible following their arrival back home from the Bahamas.
  5. Operation Pursuit will continue relentlessly, targeting criminals and criminality, including those involved in the organized crime of smuggling people, guns, and drugs. This is a multi-agency operation and through working together, we are united against crime and criminality. I am urging that you, our community, support the law enforcement efforts on the TCI. The focus of Operation Pursuit will be on serious crime and chasing down those responsible for the shootings and murders.
  6. You will be aware that last year we sought the support of the RBPF to tackle the surge in crime we had in the second half of 2022. This remains an option for us should we need to bring in additional staff and this is under constant review. I will do what is required to keep the Turks and Caicos Islands safe.

Whilst acknowledging the concerns of our communities, I want to reassure you that this year has seen a building of our resources with the 18 newly trained officers returning this week after the 6 months of training. I have been updated by the Commissioner from the Bahamas that we have an exceptional group of new officers returning to the TCI and we are looking forward to welcoming them home.

We are actively recruiting experienced specialist police officers with the first 9 joining us this week. They will be assigned to the Tactical Unit.

Specialist Operations (Tactical Unit and Marine Branch) will have a new Superintendent shortly with a highly qualified and experienced officer joining the Force’s senior leadership team from Overseas. Superintendent Mat Newton will arrive in the first week of July to take up his post and we look forward to him joining the team and leading our specialist operations functions.

For the last 6 months, a team of experienced detectives from UK Policing has been working with local detectives from the serious crime team to investigate murders, both cases from 2022 and the investigations that have started this year. Our colleagues from the UK are fully integrated with local officers, learning from each other and working hard to get justice for victims of crime and the families of those murdered.

A new gang, gun, and drug team has been formed, led by a local senior officer and comprising officers from the TCI and the UK. They are spearheading the work to target gangs, gang members, and those involved in organized crime. This team is also working in collaboration with US Law Enforcement to tackle the importation of drugs to the TCI. This work is supported by the 2022 legislation to tackle Gangs, the TCI Anti-Gang Legislation. I think it’s worth highlighting that Gang Leaders are liable to 25 years in Prison and gang membership will lead to a term of 10 years for a first offence and 20 years if a second offence is committed.

Whilst I cannot for obvious reasons provide any details, we have developed our intelligence, covert and technical capability which is helping officers investigate crime and build cases against suspects and offenders and develop intelligence from a range of sources. There is no place for criminals to hide.

We have also been developing our Force Control and Command capability with command training for leaders from within the Force and our partner agencies; primarily, Immigration, Customs, and the TCI Regiment. The way in which we work together has been further enhanced by a multi-agency command workshop, bringing leaders within the agencies together to tackle crime as a collective; we are stronger together in the protection of our communities.

In addition, we have re-established the Joint Law Enforcement Group (J-LEG) which saw the signing of a MOU on 23rd May 2023. This group now has a membership of about twenty agencies and critical partners who are committed to working together, serving you, and our communities, to ensure the safety and security of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Connected to the efforts of the Force in investigating serious crime is the work undertaken by the RTCIPF Marine Branch and our Maritime Operations Centre, our radar operators, in the policing of the maritime environment and our borders. 2023 has seen a region-wide surge in the number of people being smuggled from country to country and the TCI is seeing the same increases. The Marine Branch and radar operators have been working hard, all day and all night to detect boats attempting to smuggle people, guns, and drugs into the TCI.

The RTCIPF Marine Branch will be supported by members of the TCI Regiment in the protection of pour border. I mention this within a crime update as it is clear that the smuggling of people, guns, and drugs into the TCI has a direct line of sight to organized crime and violence. Make no mistake, those people facilitating smuggling into the TCI are fueling organized crime, shootings, and the murder of our citizens.

The developments in Policing and resulting law enforcement activity is producing results; officers have seized a number of weapons and ammunition during operations and directed patrol activity, much of it as a result of intelligence from our communities. Again, the law has been strengthened with persons found in possession of a firearm being liable to a minimum of 12 years or 18 years for those carrying a high-powered weapon.

Arrests for serious crimes continue with one person, Daniel Jean charged with robbery this week. We have also arrested and have in custody persons for robbery, possession of drugs, and possession of firearms and ammunition. I expect that charges will follow in these cases.

In closing, we keep the families of those who have been lost to violent crime on the TCI firmly in our mind; it’s the pursuit of justice for those lost which drives us to track down those responsible.

Policing will remain agile and responsive to the crime that is being committed. We are deploying every available tactic, some of it very overt on the streets and some of it covert, in the shadows, to identify those responsible for the crime.

Again, my plea is to you, our community, to assist us in the way you did during 2022 and tell us what you know. You don’t need to give your name, Crime Stoppers is anonymous and no one will ever know your identity. We have specialist officers who deal with this and you can speak with them. However you are comfortable telling us what you know, please do it as together we can keep the TCI safe.

We are working hard for you, and our community, and we are committed to keeping the TCI a safe place to live, work and visit. We will prevail, the criminals will not.

Thank you, and may God Bless our communities, our Police Officers, and these beautiful by nature Turks and Caicos Islands.”

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Crime

Police Report NEW MURDER, No 44 for 2024

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Turks and Caicos, December 7, 2024 – “Homicide detectives of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are actively investigating a homicide in Five Cays, Providenciales.

Initial reports indicate that shortly after 10 pm yesterday (December 06th), the Police Control Room received several calls stating that gunshots were being heard in the area of Sandy Land.

RT&CIPF officers responded to the given location and found the lifeless body of a male with what appeared to be gunshot wounds about the body.  The victim was later identified as NEIL RIGBY, 52, of Five Cays.

The RT&CIPF offers condolences to Mr. Rigby’s relatives and friends.

The RT&CIPF is asking anyone with information that may help in this investigation to contact the closest police station, 911, the Serious Crime Unit at 231-1842, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477 to provide any information anonymously.

Additionally, individuals are encouraged to download the Crime Stoppers P3 app.

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Bahamas News

Elvis Nathaniel Curtis and Other Corrupt Bahamian Officials Led Efforts to Support and Protect Large-Scale Cocaine Shipments Through The Bahamas en Route to the United States

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Press Release

United States Attorney’s Office

Southern District of New York

 

USA, November 27, 2024 – Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Anne Milgram, the Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging 13 defendants with cocaine importation and related weapons offenses in connection with their participation in a massive cocaine importation conspiracy enabled by corrupt Bahamian government officials, including high-ranking members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (“RBPF”). ELVIS NATHANIEL CURTIS, an RBPF Chief Superintendent, and DARRIN ALEXANDER ROKER, a Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (“RBDF”), were arrested on Monday in Florida and had their initial appearances yesterday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.  LORIELMO STEELE-POMARE, a/k/a “Steele” and WILLIAM SIMEON, a/k/a “Harvey Smith,” a/k/a “William Jacques,” a/k/a “Romeo Russell,” a/k/a “Dario Rolle,” were arrested overseas on Monday.  LUIS FERNANDO OROZCO-TORO was arrested overseas yesterday.  The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, for years, drug traffickers have smuggled tons of cocaine through The Bahamas with the support and protection of corrupt Bahamian government officials who control airports throughout the country and provide sensitive information about U.S. Coast Guard movements to drug traffickers.  This Indictment is the latest in a series of charges that this Office and the DEA’s Special Operations Division have brought against corrupt government officials around the globe who partner with dangerous cocaine traffickers.  Today’s charges should serve as yet another powerful wake-up call to corrupt officials everywhere—we will not rest until you are held accountable for your role in the drug trade that is poisoning this country and our community.  I commend the career prosecutors of this Office and our partners at the DEA for their tireless efforts to disrupt drug-fueled corruption wherever it takes hold.”

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said: “The arrests of corrupt officials, including a leader of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and another government official in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, expose the alarming betrayal of public trust that has enabled tons of cocaine to flow through The Bahamas and into the United States.  In 2024, there was a 5.4% increase in cocaine seizures in the United States.  By abusing their positions to accept bribes, protect traffickers, and facilitate drug shipments via airports and maritime routes, these individuals jeopardized countless lives for personal gain.  Let this be a clear message from the DEA: if you are a government official who uses your power to traffic in drugs and corruption, we will bring you to justice in the United States.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment:[1]

Since at least May 2021, drug traffickers have smuggled tons of cocaine through The Bahamas for importation into the U.S. with the help and support of corrupt Bahamian government officials.  The Bahamas has in recent years become an increasingly important transshipment point for U.S.-bound cocaine.  This is a result, in part, of its proximity to the U.S., as the northernmost Bahamian islands are less than 100 nautical miles from the coast of Florida, making The Bahamas an attractive route for cocaine traffickers.

The increased cocaine flow through The Bahamas and into the U.S. has been a direct result of yearslong, drug-fueled corruption by certain officials in key Bahamian government institutions.  Such corruption includes certain high-ranking members of the RBPF and other Bahamian government officials who work with drug traffickers to receive, protect, and provide safe passage for massive cocaine shipments through the airports and ports of The Bahamas.  These corrupt officials support the drug trade into the U.S. at multiple levels. First, cocaine-laden aircraft, including on U.S.-registered planes, are received at remote airstrips and larger airports in The Bahamas under the supervision of corrupt RBPF officials who work with, and accept bribes from, drug traffickers.  Then, once the cocaine arrives in The Bahamas, those corrupt officials also help drug traffickers transport their cocaine from the northernmost points of The Bahamas to the U.S. using go-fast vessels, yachts, and fishing boats.

The DEA has historically coordinated drug enforcement operations with the RBPF through a counternarcotics program called Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, or “OPBAT.”  Although OPBAT has had its share of successes in combatting the drug trade in the Caribbean, certain corrupt RBPF and Bahamian officials abuse the OPBAT program and their relationship with the DEA to disrupt U.S.-led law enforcement attempts to combat drug trafficking in The Bahamas.  Corrupt RBPF officials have, among other things, denied the DEA access to seized cocaine and evidence, provided information to the DEA that was contradicted by aerial surveillance, and even informed a DEA agent that certain drug trafficking targets were “off limits.”

As alleged, CURTIS is an RBPF Chief Superintendent who supervises airport locations throughout The Bahamas, including the Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau (the “Nassau Airport”), which is the largest airport in The Bahamas.  In exchange for bribes made by drug traffickers, CURTIS has abused his official position to, among other things, provide safe passage for cocaine shipments through airports in The Bahamas, with the assistance of other corrupt officials such as RBPF Sergeant PRINCE ALBERT SYMONETTE.  For instance, on or about October 18, 2023, CURTIS and SYMONETTE each accepted approximately $10,000 in bribe payments as a down payment for their assistance in what they understood to be an upcoming 600-kilogram cocaine shipment to The Bahamas through the Nassau Airport, for eventual distribution to the U.S.  Additionally, in or about September 2024, CURTIS explained that, in exchange for a $2 million bribe, a high-ranking Bahamian politician that CURTIS named would authorize the assistance and involvement of armed RBPF officials to facilitate incoming cocaine shipments.  CURTIS and ROKER also discussed abusing their official positions to transport drug proceeds from cocaine sales in the U.S. back to The Bahamas, including with Bahamian government and military aircraft.

Other corrupt Bahamian officials, such as ROKER, a Chief Petty Officer in the RBDF, have facilitated maritime drug trafficking activities through The Bahamas and into the U.S. by providing sensitive information about U.S. Coast Guard and DEA-led OPBAT operations to alert drug traffickers, in exchange for bribes. RICCARDO ADOLPHUS DAVIS also purports to be an official in the Bahamian government who used his influence with corrupt Bahamian government officials to authorize drug trafficking facilitated by RBPF officials.

Drug traffickers who work with the RBPF and other Bahamian officials coordinate closely with pilots to fly their U.S.-bound cocaine shipments from Central and South America into The Bahamas.  These pilots also work for various Bahamian private charter companies that provide flight services to Bahamian citizens and foreign tourists who are visiting The Bahamas.

                                *

CURTIS, 51, of The Bahamas; SYMONETTE, 52, of The Bahamas; ROKER, 56, of The Bahamas; DAVIS, 59, of The Bahamas; SIMEON, 52, of The Bahamas; THEODORE NATHANIEL ADDERLEY, a/k/a “Blue,” 53, of The Bahamas; JOSHUA MCDONALD SCAVELLA, a/k/a “Cow,” 46, of The Bahamas; STEELE-POMARE, 59, of Colombia; OROZCO-TORO, 58, of Colombia; DAVON REVION KHAIM ROLLE, 34, of The Bahamas; DARREN ARTHUR FERGUSON, a/k/a “Hubba,” 54, of The Bahamas; DOMONICK DELANCY, 36, of The Bahamas; and DONALD FREDERICK FERGUSON II, a/k/a “DJ,” a/k/a “Billy,” 26, of The Bahamas, are charged with cocaine importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; using and carrying firearms during, and possessing firearms in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and conspiring to use and carry firearms during, and possessing firearms in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The statutory minimum and maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the DEA’s Special Operations Division’s Bilateral Investigations Unit, Nassau Country Office, Bogota Country Office, and Panama City Country Office, as well as the assistance of the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

The case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan L. Bodansky, Nicholas S. Bradley, and Juliana N. Murray are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

If you or someone you know has information about the conduct in this case, please contact the DEA’s tip line at BahamasNarcoTips@dea.gov
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-cocaine-importation-charges-against-chief-superintendent-royal#:~:text=ELVIS%20NATHANIEL%20CURTIS%2C%20an%20RBPF,the%20Southern%20District%20of%20Florida

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Crime

RT&CIPF welcomes the Sentencing of “Killy Killy.”

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***MEDIA RELEASE***

 

Turks and Caicos, November 27, 2024 – The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RT&CIPF) acknowledges the conclusion of the Supreme Court trial of Rex v. Andre DeSouza, which resulted in convictions and sentencing for three serious offences.

At yesterday’s (November 26th) sentencing hearing, the court imposed the following penalties on

Mr DeSouza, a Jamaican national, also called “Killy Killy”:

  1. Carrying Firearm – Seven (7) years imprisonment
  2. Carrying Ammunition – Seven (7) years imprisonment

Overstaying Leave to Remain in the TCI – Two (2) months’ imprisosonment

The sentences will run concurrently.  Additionally, a deportation order will be enforced upon the completion of his sentence.

The convictions stem from an incident on September 21, 2022, during a police investigation in the Lofton Morley area where Mr DeSouza attempted to evade officers and brandished a firearm.

A loaded Taurus Millennium G2 9mm pistol with its serial number erased, along with ammunition, was recovered.

Superintendent (Crime, Safeguarding and Public Protection and Intelligence) Dean Holden expressed gratitude for the professionalism and dedication of the officers involved in this case’s investigation, arrest, and prosecution.

Superintendent Holden said, “The sentencing of Andre DeSouza underscores the RTCIPF’s unwavering commitment to upholding the law and ensuring the safety of our community. I commend the diligence and bravery of the officers involved in this case. Their efforts continue to demonstrate the high standards of service and dedication within the RTCIPF.

“The sentence ordered by the court in this case is the maximum sentence under the Firearms Ordinance that was in force when the offence was committed in September 2022. In October 2022, the Ordinance was amended with an increase in sentencing powers to 12 years imprisonment; however, as this offence was committed earlier than that, the court had to refer to the previous ordinance and the lesser sentencing power.”

Anyone with information on illegal activities is asked to contact the closest police station, 911, the Serious Crime Unit at 231-1842, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477 to provide information anonymously.

Additionally, individuals are encouraged to download the Crime Stoppers P3 app to share information.

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