The Director of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit is concerned that there may be increased attempts by drug pushers to traffic drugs through Guyana from neighbouring countries.
In the first half of this year, the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit has seized more drugs than it has ever seized before in a six-month period.
In response to questions from News Source, the CANU Director, James Singh, said his unit will continue with its various operations to stamp out the cocaine trade as new players attempt to get illegal drugs through Guyana.
This past weekend, CANU destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars in cocaine and marijuana that were seized and were part of Court cases that have since been completed.
“As you know, Guyana, because of its geographic location, is a transshipment point and yes, due to efforts being conducted outside of Guyana, different territories, there’s a push to move the drugs, to other territories, where there’s more demand, better prices, and less risk, with Guyana being in the middle between the suppliers and the consumers. Indeed, there’s been a bigger push to move the narcotics through, just over the last three weeks, we would have conducted a major operation involving a foreign drug trafficking organization that attempted to bring drugs into Guyana, and then for the transshipment to other territories. Luckily, we were able to identify that group, conduct operations, and we were able to dismantle, and placed some of them before the Court and there was a successful conviction”, he said.
Mr. Singh admitted that the situation is very worrying. It was also noted that as CANU and the other agencies in Guyana go after the regional and international drug pushers through coordinated campaigns, there’s also a fear for the safety of CANU officers.
“I am very concerned for the safety of not only myself, but also my officers, and also our colleagues, because as I said, this is not an operation that CANU does alone, there are elements of the Guyana Police Force, and the the GDF. So I think the security forces, as a whole, those on the border, for example, that are assisting us, there is general concern. And thanks to the ministry, we have better equipment to help us conduct our job in a much safer manner, and I must also thank our international partners, like the DEA and others, who are doing a lot more to help Guyana and to ensure that we do not become, you know, that haven, so to speak, for the cartels wishing to move their product through”, Singh said.
With regards to the cocaine and marijuana destroyed on Saturday morning, he said most of the drugs are from cases over the past three years that have now been completed before the Courts.
Meanwhile Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dwayne Adams, said the Government will continue with its fight against the narco-trade. He said major investments have been made in the fight against narcotics, and additional investment will be made.
Guyana has been receiving support from the US and other countries in the narco-fight.
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