New intelligence leads CANU to reopen cocaine in rice container probe

The bust was made in Germany and because the ship with the container of rice had made a number of stops before reaching Germany, an initial investigation had ruled out the cocaine originating in Guyana.

New intelligence leads CANU to reopen cocaine in rice container probe

The Customs Anti Narcotics Unit on the insistence of the Head of the Unit, James Singh, has reopened the investigations into the 1.5 tons of cocaine that was found in a rice shipment from Guyana back in August.

The bust was made in Germany and because the ship with the container of rice had made a number of stops before reaching Germany, an initial investigation had ruled out the cocaine originating in Guyana.

But now in wake of the latest drug bust in Belgium which is linked to Guyana, it is becoming clearer that the cocaine that was found in the rice could have originated in Guyana.

Head of CANU, James Singh today said the reopening of the case is based on new intelligence. He would offer no other details.

When the bust was made back in August, the Guyana Revenue Authority had insisted that its container scanner was in working order and nothing strange was picked up when the rice was shipped.

However, with information coming to hand that images in the scrap metal drug bust that were captured by the scanner were later deleted, CANU investigators now believe it could have been a similar case with the rice shipment.

The container with the cocaine packed in rice arrived in Germany aboard the container vessel Jean Gabriel.

According to reports out of Germany, the Police found the cocaine just after the container had been offloaded in the container yard at the Port.

It had been scheduled to be transshipped to Poland. 

German investigators reportedly received a confidential tip about the drug smuggling operation and began a thorough search of the container yard when the ship arrived.

When the container was examined at the city’s customs office, investigators said they discovered 47 large packages of cocaine hidden between sacks of rice coming from Guyana.

The investigators estimated the value of the cocaine at more than US$350 million.

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