A Georgetown man who has been involved in the scrap metal trade for a number of years is among the persons being sought locally in connection with the 23,000-pound cocaine bust in Belgium.

The Customs Anti Narcotics Unit today announced that their investigators are looking for Georgetown resident, Marlon Primo to question him about the drug shipment. Primo, according to CANU, is listed as the shipper of the container.

CANU has already arrested the Customs broker who overlooked the shipment from Guyana. He is likely to remain in custody over the weekend.

The container which was packed with scrap metal and cocaine was shipped from Guyana in late October and tracked by the Belgium authorities until it arrived in Belgium on Wednesday and law enforcement there moved in and made the seizure.

The seizure has been described as the largest overseas drug bust ever by Belgium Prosecutors who have linked the shipment to a drug gang in Belgium which was recently broken up.

The cocaine carried a street value of just over US$1 Billion, which represents more than 65% of Guyana’s national budget.

Local investigators suspect that several persons might have been involved in the cocaine shipment and the investment in the shipment.

The cocaine was packed neatly in the container behind a steel wall with old scrap metal dumped in front of it.

Investigators are surprised that the cocaine was not spotted in Guyana since the container should have gone through two full scans and other inspections, including during the packing.

A retired Customs Enforcement Officer told News Source that once the container was sent through the scanning system, the variations on the inside would have been noticed in the scan and alarm bells should have gone off. He said the only other explanation for local agents not flagging the shipment would be that the container was not scanned at all.

Investigators suspect that there might have been collusion between a number of persons at the wharf where the container was loaded onto the ship.

The probe is ongoing tonight.

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