Illegal drug trade in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Illegal drug trade in the Turks and Caicos Islands involves trans-shipment of cocaine and marijuana through The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to the United States.^[1]

Then Chief Minister Norman Saunders was arrested in March 1985 together with Commerce and Development Minister Stanford Missick.^[2] Saunders was alleged by the US Drug Enforcement Administration to have accepted $30,000 from undercover agents to ensure safe passage of drugs by permitting safe stopover refuelling of drug flights from Colombia to the United States.^[2] Video evidence showed Saunders accepting $20,000 from an agent.^[2]

Saunders was convicted in July 1985 of conspiracy, though he was acquitted of the charge of conspiring to import drugs into the United States (which Missick was also convicted of).^[2] He was sentenced to eight years in prison and fined $50,000.^[2]

In 2022, an outbreak of extreme violence, with over 30 murders, was attributed to a turf war between drug gangs looking to control drug trafficking routes.^[3]

• Designer drug
• Drug liberalization
• Legality of cannabis by country
• Minors and the legality of cannabis

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