Above: the TCI House of Assembly

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Director of Public Prosecutions in the Turks and Caicos Islands has dropped legal proceedings against a pair of American tourists arrested after single bullets were found in their bags.

Both were arrested and jailed before posting bail.

After a “thorough investigation into this matter” by the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, Director of Public Prosecutions JoAnn Meloche said she had decided to discontinue criminal proceedings.

The arrest of the two elderly American citizens had led to condemnation from United States Senators Bill Nelson and Ted Cruz, who had called for an investigation into the matter.

There have reportedly been a handful of similar incidents — in which tourists’ bags are found to be carrying small numbers of individual bullets — in other countries in the region.