The Trump administration has named 5 Caribbean nations — The Bahamas, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica — amongst a gaggle of 23 nations recognized as main drug transit or main illicit drug producing states for Fiscal Yr 2026.
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The designation, submitted to Congress on September 15, got here in a presidential willpower outlining the nations that play a big position in world narcotics trafficking. Different nations on the listing embrace Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, and Venezuela, in addition to nations in Asia and Africa.
The White Home pressured {that a} nation’s inclusion is “not essentially a mirrored image of its authorities’s counterdrug efforts or stage of cooperation with america.” As an alternative, the designation is predicated on “geographic, business, and financial elements that permit medicine or precursor chemical compounds to be transited or produced, even when a authorities has engaged in strong and diligent narcotics management and legislation enforcement measures.”
Whereas Caribbean nations have been included on the listing, President Donald Trump singled out Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, and Venezuela as having “failed demonstrably” over the previous yr to fulfill their worldwide counterdrug obligations. U.S. help to Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, and Venezuela will proceed below a nationwide curiosity waiver.
The assertion framed drug trafficking as a nationwide safety and public well being emergency for america, citing that in 2024, the nation averaged greater than 200 overdose deaths each day, with opioids remaining the main reason for loss of life for Individuals ages 18 to 44.
The assertion stated the Trump administration has deployed “each side of American energy and unprecedented sources” to fight the stream of fentanyl and different illicit substances, crediting more durable border measures and expanded cooperation with Mexico for what they described as the primary important decline in overdose deaths in additional than a decade.
The willpower permits the U.S. authorities to direct sources and diplomatic stress towards nations on the listing.
“Whereas america will commit all crucial sources to punish criminals enabling the manufacturing, transportation, and smuggling of illicit medicine throughout our borders, I may also name on nations the place these medicine originate and transit to satisfy their obligations and shut off these provides – or face critical penalties,” the assertion stated.