The U.S. Embassy yesterday warned U.S. citizens to avoid the Sand Trap on West Bay St. due to its alleged "ongoing association with known crimincal elements". (Photo: Torrell Glinton)

The United States Embassy in Nassau yesterday warned U.S. citizens to avoid the Sand Trap on West Bay Street due to its alleged "ongoing association with known criminal elements", just over a week after a woman was shot dead and two other people were injured at the establishment.

The U.S. Embassy's residential property is immediately next to the establishment.

Police reported that, shortly after 8 p.m. on November 14, a vehicle pulled up at the Sand Trap and its occupant, or occupants, opened fire into a crowd.

The warning said, "U.S. citizens are advised that the U.S. Embassy in Nassau has placed the Sand Trap off limits to embassy personnel and their families due to the ongoing association with known criminal elements and the recent shooting incident that killed one person and wounded two others.

"The establishment also is the launching point for various jet ski operators who are minimally regulated by the government and also associated with criminal activity, such as sexual assault."

The advisory also referred to a previous warning issued by the embassy in January, advising Americans living in and traveling to The Bahamas not to patronize jet ski operators in light of several alleged incidents of rape.

According to the U.S. Embassy, five U.S. citizens were allegedly sexually assaulted by jet ski operators in the previous year and a half.

In January, the embassy characterized the industry as "loosely regulated".

Following calls from officials in the water sports industry and the hotel sector, Minister of Transport and Aviation Glenys Hanna-Martin announced several measures intended to demonstrate that serious attention was being directed at the concerns.

Hanna-Martin announced that the Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers on jet skis will provide surveillance of beaches during hours of operations.

Beach marshals were selected from the body of jet ski operators, which introduced industry-based self-monitoring.

Yesterday, several water sports operators were at the Sand Trap.

One operator, who did not want to be named, said the latest warning from the embassy was "wrong".

"It is more regulated than ever before," he said of the industry. "The regulations put in place by the government have stagnated the industry."

Sand Trap features a bar, a jerk pit, a daiquiri stand, an outdoor hockey rink and a dock.

Yesterday, an employee at the site said tourists do not visit the establishment.

He said the people who work there are hard-working men and women who try to do their jobs like everyone else to feed their families.

Businessman Tennyson Wells, who had a previous interest in the Sand Trap, told The Nassau Guardian if there are criminal activities taking place at the site, the police should deal with it.

"I was surprised to see that today," he said of the advisory. "I didn't know people still go there... I agree with the Americans. If they know [of crime there], they should tell the people."

Wells said he is "very disappointed" to hear of criminal reports connected to the Sand Trap.

Sloan Smith, Guardian Staff Reporter

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