US names several Caribbean countries on drugs list

 Four Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have been listed in the President Donald Trump’s “Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2026”  submitted to the United States Congress.

According to the document, Trump has identified The Bahamas, Belize, Haiti and Jamaica as major transit or major illicit drug producing countries.

The other countries named are Afghanistan,  Bolivia, Burma, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India,  Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

Trump  noted that a country’s presence on the list “is not necessarily a reflection of its government’s counterdrug efforts or level of cooperation with the United States”

But he said consistent with the statutory definition of a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing country outlined in the Foreign Assistance Act  (FAA) of 1961, “the reason countries are placed on the list is the combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs or precursor chemicals to be transited or produced, even if a government has engaged in robust and diligent narcotics control and law enforcement measures”.

He said that Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, and Venezuela have failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months to both adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements and to take the measures required by the FAA.

Trump told  Congress that transnational organized crime’s trafficking of fentanyl and other deadly illicit drugs into the United States has created a national emergency, including a public health crisis in the United States that remains the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 44.

He said more than 40 per cent of Americans know someone who has died from an opioid overdose, and in 2024 the United States averaged over 200 deaths daily due to illicit drugs.

“This remains unacceptable, and my administration is deploying every aspect of American power and unprecedented resources to defeat this threat to our nation. ”

Trump  spoke of the various measures being implemented by his administration to keep the country  safe from drug dealers, including “using the full range of law enforcement and military resources…

“ For the first time in four years, our border is no longer an open sieve for drug terrorist cartels, human traffickers, and all others who would do our country harm.  American lives are being saved, with overdose deaths finally starting to recede significantly for the first time in over a decade. ”

He said he has also marshalled United States economic strength to compel greater cooperation from its North American neighbours to confront the drug threat and do their part.

“While the United States will devote all necessary resources to punish criminals enabling the production, transportation, and smuggling of illicit drugs across our borders, I will also call on countries where these drugs originate and transit to fulfill their obligations and shut off these supplies – or face serious consequences. ”

While the United States President gave detailed accounts of the drug situation in some of the countries identified as major transit or major illicit drug producing countries, he did not give any specific  explanation for putting the  CARICOM countries on the list. (CMC)