What is driving Bahamas crime spike? After spate of murders and shocking resort rape allegations, prime minister blames the MEDIA for threatening tourism by reporting on the grim trend

Officials in the Bahamas are grappling with a disturbing increase in violent crime that they fear could hurt tourism, a vital industry for the Caribbean archipelago.

Last month, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory, citing a spike in homicides in January and warning that killings “have occurred at all hours, including in broad daylight on the streets.”

At the time of the alarm, the country of just 400,000 inhabitants had recorded 18 murders in 2024. That number has since risen to 25. None of the murder victims were foreigners.

Earlier this month, two Kentucky mothers came forward with allegations that they were raped by staff at Grand Bahama’s Pirate’s Cove beach resort after being served “spiked” cocktails during a shore excursion on their Carnival Cruise.

And just this week, the family of an 80-year-old Canadian woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease went public with allegations that she was raped by another tourist at the Warwick Hotel on Paradise Island.

For residents of the Bahamas, concerns about rising crime are twofold: The violence not only affects their own quality of life, but also threatens to disrupt the tourism industry that powers the country’s economy.

Earlier this week, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis was criticized after he appeared to blame journalists for their reporting on crime in the country, rather than the criminals themselves.

“I want to appeal to the press to be sensitive,” Davis said Monday as he addressed religious leaders in New Providence.

“I think they should see their role in helping the country. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t report it, but wherever you report it, it can make a difference.”

“Every bullet fired seems to be front page news in all our daily news. And what happens: AP picks it up, Reuters picks it up,” he added, referring to international news services.

Although Davis also spoke about crime-fighting strategies, his attack on the Bahamian press sparked furious controversy and criticism from local journalists.

“The comments were poorly placed and ill-advised,” Our News anchor Jerome Sawyer said Eyewitness News Bahamas. “When your media is at a murder scene back-to-back-to-back-to-back, suddenly it’s an anomaly, and it’s our job to sound the alarm.”

On Thursday, Davis defended his comments, urging reporters: “I’m not trying to censor the media, I’m not a dictator.”

The US State Department said in January that “retaliatory gang violence” appeared to be the primary motive in the killings seen so far this year.

“The majority of crime occurs on the islands of New Providence (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport),” the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs said in a travel advisory.

“Nassau increased vigilance in the ‘Over the Hill’ area (south of Shirley Street), where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate that mainly affects locals.”

The alert warned tourists not to physically resist a robbery attempt, and not to open the front door of any hotel or residence to unknown people.

The number of homicides reported in the archipelago last year is not available, but homicides increased 8 percent between 2021 and 2022, with 128 homicides reported, up from 119, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Although the year is still young, the Bahamas is on track to surpass 190 homicides by 2024 if current rates continue, easily surpassing the most recent available annual total.

Local officials say drugs, gangs and poverty are major factors driving the violence.

“We’re targeting the drug dealers in a lot of these inner-city communities, and we know that’s why we have all these crimes,” Assistant Chief Constable Damien Robinson said. ZNS network in a recent one-hour special on crime in the Bahamas.

‘It’s gang retaliation based on drugs. We know this is the main reason, and everything that follows is because of the drug problem we face,” he added.

ACP Anthony Rolle added that poverty was a major factor pushing young people into the gang lifestyle.

“The biggest problems in our community are the result of socio-economic problems, namely unemployment,” he said.

‘There is a lack of good housing. We have (a lack of) education. We also have a low income. So these impact our communities, the residents of our communities,” Rolle said.

Although the Bahamas may be associated with wealth and luxury, the reality for local residents is often very different.

According to the United Nations Development Program, the poverty rate in the Bahamas was estimated at almost 15 percent in 2017.

More recent figures show an unemployment rate of 13.24 percent on the island paradise, with the youth unemployment rate (15-24 years) approaching a third.

Officials say economic desperation is driving some young people toward a life of drug dealing and gangs, fueling the recent rise in homicides.

Tragically for the country, the increase in violent crime now poses a real threat to tourism, which drives the Bahamian economy and creates thousands of jobs.

Last year, 5.8 million visitors came to the Bahamas in the first seven months of 2023, putting the country on track for more than 8 million visitors for the year.

Tourism accounts for about half of the country’s gross domestic product.

In addition, several reports of rape at luxury resorts in the Bahamas have made international headlines, although the circumstances of the cases vary.

Earlier this month, Kentucky mothers Dongayla Dobson and Amber Shearer, both 31, came forward publicly to report that they were sexually assaulted during a shore excursion from their Carnival Cruise.

The two women, who consented to be named, said they were drugged with “spiked” cocktails and raped by staff at the Pirate’s Cove beach resort on Grand Bahama.

The resort angrily denied their claims, and local police appeared to doubt the allegations and released the suspects after reviewing the security footage.

But Ladonna Batty, an Arkansas family physician, confirmed the allegations and described the traumatic scene she encountered while treating the two women.

Batty told Fox News that the two women were bruised, partially undressed, vomiting and disoriented, and said she had no reason to doubt they had been attacked.

In a separate shocking case, an 80-year-old grandmother from Canada, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, was abducted and raped at the Warwick Hotel Paradise Island Bahamas on January 28.

Another Canadian, 61-year-old Gordon Wilkie of New Waterford, Nova Scotia, was arrested in the case and charged with rape.

The alleged rapist did not know the victim but got into the elevator with her and her daughter and kidnapped her as the daughter got off the elevator on their floor, the victim’s son told DailyMail.com this week.

The mother was missing for about 40 minutes while the daughter and other guests frantically searched for her. Wilkie was arrested and charged with raping her in his hotel room.

The victim’s son, David Arhens, praised Bahamian police but said staff at the Warwick resort were completely unhelpful, refusing to assist in the search and delaying calling police.

The resort did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.