Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

Suriname police detain foreigners with cocaine

Friday, September 29, 2006

by: Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com

PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Police in Suriname recently detained several foreign nationals for possession of cocaine and marijuana. After the Narcotics Squad was tipped off that two African individuals were heading for the east border with a quantity of cocaine, police in the border town Albina were alerted and eventually the two suspects were arrested.

In their possession police officers discovered an undisclosed quantity of cocaine hidden in two filters. The suspects were allegedly traveling to neighboring French-Guiana.

Their arrest led police to an apartment building in the capital Paramaribo, where the Narcotics Squad arrested a third African national. In the bedroom of this suspect police discovered two paintings in which more than 2 kilos cocaine was concealed.

In a separate case police in the Coronie district, 120 kilometers west of the capital, detained a Guyanese man with a quantity of marijuana in his possession. The ganja was discovered during a regular road inspection. The suspect, along with a driver, was traveling in a mini-bus from the western district Nickerie heading to Paramaribo.

Near the village of Burnside in Coronie police ordered the vehicle to stop for a search. During the check police officers discovered a bag containing several kilos marijuana. Since the bag belonged to the passenger he was arrested and taken into custody.

Recently, authorities in Suriname have detained suspects on a regular basis from neighboring Guyana with large amounts of marijuana. According to sources in relation to Suriname the ganja is very cheap in Guyana resulting in increased trafficking of the drug via the illegal backtrack route.

This route is not only used by passengers on legal business between the two countries but also by illegal immigrants and persons in shady businesses like smuggling of all kinds of contraband. Currently the authorities are considering a possible legalization of the backtrack route and installing an immigration office at this entry point.

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