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An Oklahoma man is facing up to 12 years in prison for having ammunition in his carry-on bag at a Turks and Caicos airport, according to a GoFundMe page for his family. Ryan and Valerie Watson, the parents of two young children, were flying home from their island vacation, where they were celebrating a friend's 40th birthday, on April 12 when they were arrested at the airport. "They had their lives turned upside down when they tried to return home, as local airport security found four rounds of ammunition unknowingly left in a duff[le]bag from a deer hunting trip," a...

The U.S. State Department is warning travelers about strict new laws in Turks and Caicos Islands that carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years for bringing guns or ammunition to the island. An Oklahoma woman was reunited Tuesday with her young children after being detained for almost two weeks in Turks and Caicos Islands for allegedly violating their strict guns and ammunition law. Her husband is being held in the British Overseas Territory near the Bahamas. Ryan and Valerie Watson, who live in Oklahoma, left for Turks and Caicos Islands on April 7 to celebrate the 40th birthdays of...

A Swiss bank that used its Cayman Islands’ branch to engage in what a US federal judge has branded “predatory lending practices” is being investigated by the US authorities. Senior officials of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second largest bank, are facing claims that they pocketed millions of dollars by dishing out loans that were impossible to repay. On Tuesday, 15 September, 31 of the bank’s officials received subpoenas demanding that they hand over internal documents that explain why they loaned $375 million to the now bankrupt Yellowstone Club in 2005. The Yellowstone Club, founded by American tycoon Tim Blixseth, was once...

Sunday, August 16, 2009 The Government of the United Kingdom has assumed direct rule over the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, after an enquiry discovered what it alleges to be corruption and "serious dishonesty" at the highest levels. The islands' administration and Premier have been suspended for up to two years and their powers transferred to the UK-appointed Governor. The British Government has taken the unusual step because it alleges that former Premier Michael Misick and members of his cabinet have enriched themselves through the selling of crown land and other corrupt practices, and that the limits to...

Suppose Canada built itself a deep-water port in the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. Suppose that port opened up a new market for Canadian goods -- more than 120 million people live in the Caribbean and nearby Central and South America. .... Suppose Canadian ships carried northward duty-free tropical produce and products from the Caribbean and Latin America. In some locations, food rots for lack of shipping and export markets. Suppose these ships returned with Canadian durable goods -- now scarce on southern shelves. .... Suppose the port doubled as a Canadian military operations base for countries wanting help to...

A Britten-Norman Trislander, the kind of small aircraft that disappeared off the Dominican Republic Monday with 12 on board. A small Caribbean airplane that vanished into thin air Monday was allegedly stolen by a fired Dominican Navy cadet who may have been trying to carry illegal immigrants to America, the plane’s owner told FOXNews.com. Luis Perez, the Puerto Rico-based owner of the aircraft charter company, said his twin-engine plane was stolen by an unlicensed pilot named Adrian Jimenez. Authorities told him Jimenez was a student of the Dominican Republic Armed Forces and a former Navy cadet. “They took his pilot’s...

CARACAS, Venezuela – The Venezuelan government on Friday denied any link to a businessman who was stopped at an Argentine airport carrying a suitcase filled with nearly $800,000 in cash. The Venezuelan businessman, Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, carried the money from Caracas to Buenos Aires on a flight chartered by the Argentine government, and the undeclared funds were seized by customs agents last weekend. “We don't have anything to do with that plane or with that trip ... nothing to do with that businessman,” Venezuelan Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas told reporters. The incident has shaken the Argentine government, prompted one...

Excerpt - MIAMI (Reuters) - The bodies of 54 people have been recovered following Friday's capsize of a Haitian sailboat that was being towed by police in the Turks and Caicos islands, the British territory's government said on Monday. Seventy-eight migrants survived the accident and were expected to be returned to Haiti, the government said in a statement. Rescuers continued the search for survivors and victims. On Friday, officials had said 20 people died and 58 were missing in the accident. A Royal Turks and Caicos Police patrol boat intercepted the sloop -- which may have been carrying as many...

As Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide warned of an exodus by sea from Haiti's violent rebellion Tuesday, the Turks and Caicos Islands reported the capture of 100 of some 400 Haitian migrants who landed there since last week.Island authorities also have intelligence reports of another five boatloads en route, said Alonzo Malcolm, deputy director of immigration for the islands, a British dependency 90 miles north of Haiti's northern coast.The arrival of the Haitians, and the arrival of another 62 who sailed to Jamaica over the past week, underlined fears of an emigration wave as Haiti sinks deeper into chaos amid a...

A Canadian Alliance MP wants Canada to investigate the possibility of annexing the idyllic Turks and Caicos Islands. Peter Goldring, MP for Edmonton Centre-East, has drafted a motion asking the federal government to study the practicality of "a union" that would see the islands adopted as "Canada's 11th province." He plans to introduce it when the House of Commons reconvenes this fall. Canada has twice rejected the idea of annexing the archipelago in the past 30 years. But Mr. Goldring says it might make sense to reconsider in "this new day and age of international terrorism." "Maybe it would be...