Drug trade on the rise in Guyana, says crime chief
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| Published on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 |
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GEORGETOWN, Guyana: Despite managing to seize some 60 pounds of cocaine and more than 74,000 pounds of marijuana this year, tackling the drug trade remains one of the major hurdles for Guyana’s law enforcement agencies.
This is the word from the head of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Seelall Persaud who Friday last revealed that at the end of October, police had destroyed more than 50 ganja fields’ totalling 44-1/ 2 acres, which amounted to more than 33,000 kilograms of marijuana.
Additionally, the force seized off the streets and during raids, more than 1,206 kilograms of the same substance and have charged and placed before the courts 296 people. Persaud said that organized crime like drug and arms trafficking, has contributed significantly to the heightened security fears in this country.
During the period 1999-2006, an average of 13.7 hectares of cannabis were discovered, from which an average of 1,866 plants weighing an average of 12,706 kilograms were destroyed per year.
Police statistics have shown that in 2003 alone, an estimated 8,618.46 kilograms were destroyed. In its 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the U S State Department noted that marijuana is sold and consumed openly in Guyana, despite frequent arrests for possession of small amounts of cannabis.
The report also states that Guyana’s ability to deal with drug abusers is limited by a lack of financial resources to support rehabilitation programs.
With regard to cocaine, Persaud told this newspaper that police seized 30.69 kilograms, so far this year. In addition, ranks seized 1.53 kilograms of crack cocaine and have charged some 94 persons. Ranks also confiscated 112 grams of heroin and intercepted some three kilograms of cocaine from courier services, the crime chief revealed.
Over the years, authorities here have emphasized that drug use and abuse are unacceptable in the fabric of Guyana ’s society, but many believe that enough was not being done to control drug trafficking in this country.
A number of Guyanese businessmen had been arrested by the United States for drug trafficking, some including Roger Khan, Peter Morgan and several others are currently before U. S. courts. Additionally, periodically law enforcement authorities have intercepted drug shipments originating from Guyana in the United States , UK , Canada and some Caribbean Islands .
In 2005, the Guyana Government unveiled a GY$650 million Drug Master Plan, which had promised the wiretapping legislation, recently passed in the National Assembly. It also encompassed increasing the joint enforcement presence at the nine ports of entry, the establishment of an enforcement port in the vicinity of the Orinoco Delta and other locations
In its 2007 report, the US Government said Guyanese narcotics traffickers regularly move shipments of cocaine through the country, noting that in some deals Guyanese traffickers swap weapons for drugs. The re port added that cocaine flows through Guyana ’s re mote, uncontrolled borders and coastline. Drug traffickers also use cargo ships to export narcotics from Guyana , either directly to North America and Europe, or through intermediate Caribbean ports.
In July 2006, Spanish police broke up a drug-smuggling ring that used yachts hired out for family holidays to import more than 800 kilograms of cocaine into Britain and Spain .
Authorities said the drugs were loaded off Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname and hidden below the decks while paying passengers took cruises. Drug traffickers have also used virtually every commodity that Guyana exports as a cover for shipping cocaine out of the country. | | | | Reads : 506 |
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