Senior Superintendent of Police, Himnauth Sawh is among four Guyanese that have been sanctioned by the US Government for reported links to drug trafficking the Colombian drug trafficking underworld.
In a statement today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control named the Senior Superintendent of Police Himnauth Sawh along with businessman Paul Daby Jr., Mark Cromwell aka “Demon” of Buxton and Randolph Duncan aka Rudolph Duncan to its latest list of sanctioned individuals.
The four are linked to two Colombian nationals who have also been sanctioned by the US for drug trafficking and related crimes.
According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, For decades, Guyana has been a transshipment point for the movement of drugs from South America to the United States and Europe.
The Office said Drug traffickers have been exploiting the rivers and jungles of South America by transiting large quantities of cocaine, from Colombia and Venezuela, through the waters of Guyana and Suriname.
The statement further indicated that Guyana’s proximity to the Caribbean, as well as reported corruption along its ports and borders, allow maritime vessels, also known as narco-submarines, to transit through its waters undetected. The US said drug traffickers utilize the vessels to smuggle cocaine from the ports of Guyana and Suriname, across the Atlantic, to the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.
It also noted that traffickers also coordinate the importation of cocaine loads from Colombia and Venezuela to Guyana via small aircraft, utilizing illegal airstrips in Guyana as landing spots.
The US Government noted that cocaine has been discovered buried in underground bunkers located on airstrips and in jungle territory, with Guyana’s Barima-Waini region as a prominent location.
Cocaine is then flown, via aircraft, to the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean, the report noted.
NEWS Source understands that the sanctioned persons have been investigated for several months by the US authorities and they were linked to a major drug bust that took place in the Barima Waini region in September of last year, when more than 4.4 tonnes of cocaine was discovered stashed near an illegal airstrip in the Region.
During that operation, it was the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit that worked along with the Guyana Defence Force Special Forces and the US Drug Enforcement Agency. The Guyana Police Force was left out of the operation although it has a Police base in the Region.
The Commander of the base at that time was the same Senior Superintendent who has now been sanctioned by the US Government.
Although there were concerns about his alleged ties to the cocaine discovery, he was never directly linked to the large haul, but he was removed from the area and reassigned to Police headquarters.
The Guyana Police Force this afternoon indicated that he was still on active duty. It is unclear what actions will now be taken by the Police Force in wake of the sanctions.
Businessman Paul Daby Jr. has long been on the radar of local and foreign drug investigators. His late father was also under the eyes of US drug investigators for his alleged ties to the narco trade. He passed away a few years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic and had been flown to Colombia on a private jet for treatment, but still died after contracting the virus.
Buxtonian, Mark Cromwell has also been linked locally to drug trafficking previously. He is a former Policeman, turned businessman and last year a wanted bulletin was issued for his arrest in connection with a kidnapping probe. He has also been known to be closely linked to a number of persons in the present government and has been spotted in public settings with some of them.
The US Government has been paying close attention to Guyana and the growing drug trade over the years with Region One with its porous borders being used as a main transshipment point.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login