Trinidad and Tobago has not been named in a list of Caribbean countries, that United States President Joseph Biden has named among major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries for Fiscal Year 2024.
The list released in a White House memo on Friday listed The Bahamas, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica among countries worldwide as major transit or major illicit drug-producing countries. The expansive list went on to identify Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
Biden said: “Consistent with the statutory definition of a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing country set forth in sections 481(e)(2) and 481(e)(5) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (Public Law 87-195) (FAA), the reason countries are placed on the list is the combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to be transited or produced, even if a government has engaged in robust and diligent narcotics control and law enforcement measures,” he added.
The US President said the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 117-263) amended the definition of major drug source countries to include source countries of precursor chemicals used to produce illicit drugs significantly affecting the United States.
The US President added: “The vast majority of illicit drugs causing the most damage in the United States originate from beyond our borders, and our most effective means of reducing the availability of these drugs is to expand and improve our cooperation with international partners,” he said, adding that “The political commitment of our international partners remains critical to achieving success against illicit drug threats.”