SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Opposition leaders in the Bahamas are demanding an investigation into a suspected drug trafficker who survived a recent plane crash near Florida and was allegedly found with roughly US$30,000, according to a US federal agent. The money was inside a bag labeled with the name of an unidentified high-ranking politician from the archipelago.

The suspect, who was deported to the Bahamas more than a decade ago after being convicted on drug and money laundering charges, is accused of trafficking cocaine through the Bahamas to the US.

He is also accused of meeting the unnamed politician in October 2024 at the Bahamian Parliament in Nassau to talk about a deal involving some 1,000 kilogrammes (2,200 pounds) of cocaine, according to a court document filed May 14 in the Southern District of New York, a day after the plane crash.