Durrant Pate/ Contributor

The United States has listed Jamaica and three other Caribbean nations as major drug transit or major illicit drug-producing countries for the fiscal year 2025.

The other three countries are The Bahamas, Belize and Haiti. US President, Joe Biden made the declaration in a report highlighting the inclusion of these four Caribbean nations, along with other countries for their significant role in drug trafficking and the production of precursor chemicals that impact the US.

However, Biden in the report clarified that being named on the list does not reflect the government’s counter-narcotic efforts or cooperation with the US, noting, “the list is not a sanction or penalty”. 

The report stated that the list is merely as a result of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that facilitate the transit or production of drugs or precursor chemicals, even in countries that have implemented strong law enforcement and narcotics control measures.

Other named countries

Other countries named in the U.S. report include Afghanistan, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. In his report, Biden pointed to recent changes under US law that expand the definition of drug source countries. 

The James M Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 now includes countries that are sources of chemicals used to produce illicit drugs, further explaining the inclusion of the Caribbean nations. 

Among other countries mentioned in Biden’s report were Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela, which were designated as having “failed demonstrably” to meet their international counter-narcotic obligations over the past year. 

However, the US continues to maintain support programmes in these countries despite the challenges.

Drug deaths in America down

Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that the US saw an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in 2023, a slight decrease from 2022. This marks the first decline in drug overdose deaths since 2018, which Biden credited to his administration’s efforts and investments in combating the drug epidemic. 

However, he acknowledged that addressing the drug crisis requires global cooperation. In July 2023, the Biden administration launched a Global Coalition to combat synthetic drug threats, uniting over 150 countries to tackle the alarming rise in the manufacturing and trafficking of illicit synthetic drugs. 

The coalition’s membership has tripled within the past year, reflecting the global scale of the problem. Earlier in March, the United Nations (UN) Commission on Narcotic Drugs adopted a US-sponsored resolution aimed at preventing and responding to drug overdoses. 

Resolution on drug overdose

The resolution encourages international data collection and information sharing on synthetic drug threats. Additionally, the Commission implemented international controls on chemicals used in the production of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and MDMA, which Biden noted is a critical step in disrupting trafficking networks.

The US president emphasized that international cooperation remains essential in addressing the fentanyl epidemic and dismantling the criminal organizations profiting from it. He highlighted trilateral mechanisms such as the North American Drug Dialogue, which has strengthened collaboration between the US, Mexico, and Canada on controlling precursor chemicals and combating illicit drug production.

“While we expand our efforts at home, we also recognize this problem as a global one that requires a coordinated international response,” Biden said.