BY KARYL WALKER Editor - Crime/Court Desk walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com Wednesday, September 17, 2014
JAMAICA has been listed as one of 22 major drug-producing and transit countries by US President Barack Obama, according to information released Monday by the US Department of State.
However, Minister of National Security Peter Bunting did not appear overly worried about the listing as he said Jamaica has been included in that category for some time now.
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"... From memory, Jamaica has been on that list every year since I became spokesman on national security in 2008," Bunting replied to the Jamaica Observer, via text messaging, from a Cabinet retreat, yesterday.
A media note from the State Department said, that under the Foreign Relations Authorisation Act, the president is required to notify Congress of those countries he determines to be major illicit drug-producing countries or major drug-transit countries that "significantly affect the United States" every year.
A country's presence on the list does not necessarily reflect its counter-narcotics efforts or its level of co-operation with the United States on illicit drug control.
The Department of State said the designation can reflect a combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to be produced and/or trafficked through a country.
Jamaica and four other Caribbean countries -- Belize, The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti -- are among 22 named by Obama. more
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