But it's not at the arrival end that the illegal trafficking takes place.

One of the staging points is attorney general Douglas' constituency, the northern town of Portsmouth where Haitians leave Dominica illegally in small boats in the hope of accessing other Caribbean countries and eventually the United States.

Some Portsmouth residents say the Haitians are being lured to Dominica with false promises, told that once there they can easily purchase a ticket to the US.

The police commissioner, Mathias Lestrade, told BBC Caribbean that there is a clear link between the smuggling of Haitians from Dominica and the illegal drug trade.

"Some have been heard to say that this is a preferred method with less risks, compared to drug trafficking," the police chief said.

Arrests are being made both on the island and in places like St Maarten and the British and US Virgin Islands where the smuggled Haitians are transported.

Limited resources

But local officials admit that the problem is a difficult one, given their limited resources to police the coastlines of the rugged, mountainous country they've dubbed the Nature Island.

And the authorities have another problem - a growing interest in women from the Dominican Republic said to be providing prostitution services.

These women can be found selling in bars in different parts of the country, and it appears to be public knowledge that they offer for sale more than just drinks.

The attorney general says it would be easier to tackle the problem if there were a visible, established network, or clearly identified brothels that the authorities could target.

He says there's no organised prostitution ring, or a "prostitution house that you can go to, and solicit the services of these women."

One of his constituents, former mayor Julian Brewster who is still a town councillor, insists however that Portsmouth is becoming the "prostitution capital of Dominica" and that hordes of apparently sex-starved men descend on the town at weekends from all parts of the country, for the services of the Spanish-speaking prostitutes.

"I live in the heart of the action, and it is very painful to see what is going on," Brewster told BBC Caribbean.

"I am saying (that) like I can go to the grocery shop and purchase a pound of sugar, I can go to various bars and pick up my woman and away in a manger. So while there isn't any sign that would indicate to you that here is a prostitution centre, but you know you can go to the various places, make your choice and move," the town councillor explained.

He is angry that resources that should go towards meeting family responsibilies are now, as he puts it, going down the drain.

The Roman Catholic Church has warned that not enough is being done to tackle the problem, and one parish priest recently, in the presence of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt and his Cabinet, urged the government to "close the brothels, and deport the young ladies concerned, no matter how beautiful they may be."

Prime Minister Skerritt has cited action taken by the police against the alleged prostitution.

"There has been a serious crackdown by the police, (they've) visited several quote unquote bars and homes, and we have in fact deported a number of persons we found without the required documents," he confirmed.

Police Commissioner Mathias Lestrade says the police have a difficult time because they have not caught any of these women in the act of prostitution.

"When they are found most of them are brought into police headquarters, and we try our best to discourage them from being involved in acts of prostitution."