Use all legitimate means to get Barry Dataram back here -Pres. Granger

On Thursday, President Granger added his voice of concern to the self confessed drug convict being able to get out of Guyana without being noticed, although it is suspected that he left using an illegal crossing.

Use all legitimate means to get Barry Dataram back here   -Pres. Granger

As local law enforcement agencies are working along with other law enforcement agencies from neighbouring countries, President David Granger is pressing them to do more in locating and apprehending drug convict, Barry Dataram.

Dataram was earlier this week sentenced to 5 years in jail in Guyana and fined $164.2 Million after being convicted of being in possession of over 225 pounds of cocaine.  

By the time the case was wrapping up, Dataram had already bolted from the country after his associates told him that a conviction was likely because of the overwhelming evidence. He was on $4 Million bail during the trial.

On Thursday, President Granger added his voice of concern to the self confessed drug convict being able to get out of Guyana without being noticed, although it is suspected that he left using an illegal crossing. 

“Mr. Dataram is a person of interest. He is a well-known character in Guyana and I would expect that even though the judicial branch is separate, there should be a greater level of alertness on the part of the Magistracy, in the Judiciary, in matters like this and I don’t regard it as a failing on the part of law enforcement agencies but it is definitely an error which ought to have been avoided. The danger posed in having somebody who is now a convict out there, out of the jurisdiction is going to be harmful to our national interest so I would urge the law enforcement agencies to alert their counterparts in neighbouring states”, the President stated.

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It is suspected that Dataram may have crossed over to Suriname where he was making attempts to head to another country.

He is a US Citizen and it is believed that he may be using a forged foreign passport. 

President Granger said “even though Mr. Dataram might have a foreign passport, it might be a forged passport. I would urge all law enforcement agencies to use every legitimate measure to bring him back into this jurisdiction so that he can serve his sentence”.

The President said the  Commissioner of Police has already been instructed to work closer with his Caribbean colleagues to locate the drug king pin. 

“My information is that he is not travelling on a Guyanese passport. So after his disappearance, and we weren’t aware of his disappearance, we continued to work with our partners in the Caribbean to bring him to justice. If he is in Suriname as is suspected, the Commissioner of Police has been instructed to try to ascertain his whereabouts in neighbouring countries but he is not using a Guyana passport that much we know,” Granger said.

The President admitted that it is physically impossible to control every kilometer of Guyana’s border with present resources, but he believes the man should have been monitored more.

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