A go-fast boat belonging to Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed, was detained by the Coast Guard late last night following a reported stand-off at a Friendship wharf facility between members of the Coast Guard and Police and a group of Opposition Members of Parliament from the WIN party, including the Opposition Leader.
In a statement late last night, the Guyana Police Force said the go-fast boat was intercepted at around 9:50 pm as Joint Services ranks, while on patrol and acting on information received, observed the vessel proceeding along the Demerara River towards the Friendship area.
The Police statement indicated that the ranks signaled the boat by siren to stop, but the boat failed to comply and sped away, prompting a pursuit and eventual interception at a Friendship wharf on the East Bank of Demerara.
The Police claim that during the pursuit, ranks reported observing a bag being thrown from the vessel into the Demerara River, but could not determine the contents of the bag or who threw it.
According to the Police, efforts are ongoing to locate and recover the bag and determine its contents as part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
But General Secretary of the WIN party and Member of Parliament, Odessa Primus, who was one of the persons on the boat has disputed the Police Force’s version of events.
In a statement this morning, Ms. Primus said the Police had signaled their intent to have the Leader of the Opposition arrested, claiming that he needed to produce the documents for the boat immediately. She said the Mr. Mohamed indicated that the boat was docked at the time and that he did have any documents on him.
She said the police came to search the boat because of some “high speed chase”, but that quickly moved to being a suspicion on illegal substances on the boat. She said a search was conducted on the boat and its occupants and absolutely nothing illegal was found.
The Opposition team also indicated that MP Natasha Singh was held in custody after a bag was found with a licensed firearm that belongs to fellow MP Dawn Hastings. At the time, Hastings had reportedly stepped off the boat, leaving the bag behind with the licensed firearm.
Mohameds and his Members of Parliament were reportedly returning to Georgetown from Region One after spending the day meeting with survivors and relatives of those who died in the MV Barima ferry tragedy who are from the Region.
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