March 5, 2008 — Making good on plans laid out in this year's State of the Territory Address, Gov. John deJongh Jr. submitted a bill to the Legislature Wednesday to disband the territory's Drug Enforcement Bureau.
Formerly known as the Narcotics Strike Force, the agency has come under much public scrutiny over the years. In 2003, a jury acquitted two of the Strike Force's former agents on a number of charges, including racketeering, drug conspiracy and extortion. One of the agents was alleged to have financed the movement of cocaine from Antigua to St. Croix for its resale in the territory. (See "Jury Acquits Former Drug Agents of All Charges.")
The year before, former Strike Force agents Achille Tyson and Esbond De Grasse entered guilty pleas to narcotics and racketeering offenses after getting arrested by federal authorities checking into the agency's operations.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Senate President Usie R. Richards, deJongh said the Strike Force — which was transformed into the Drug Enforcement Bureau in 2005 — has not lived up to its mandate "for several years."
"Indeed, there have not been any recent convictions based on the actions of the Drug Enforcement Bureau for some time," the governor added. "Nevertheless, the government has continued to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to support this agency despite the lack of any tangible results. The name change in 2005 did not assist the agency from removing itself from its previous taint, and prosecutors are so concerned that they will not prosecute cases brought to them by the Drug Enforcement Bureau. This situation is untenable and cannot continue."
The "time has come," DeJongh added, for the territory to "establish a clean slate" that would allow for the successful investigation and prosecution of local drug violations.
"The abolishment of the Drug Enforcement Bureau doesn't mean my administration is unconcerned with drug possession, distribution and abuse," deJongh wrote. "Rather, we are looking to remove a lingering distraction so that our law enforcement officers can focus on the challenges presented by drug dealers and users."
Local police officers will remain active in the multi-agency High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and will work with federal authorities to pursue drug crimes, deJongh said.
"Further, the V.I. Police Department will develop its own division dedicated to investigating offenses against our drug laws," deJongh wrote in his letter to Richards.
Back Talk Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
