Members of Guyana’s Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) on Saturday discovered 21 parcels of cocaine inside a container belonging to Demerara Shipping Limited at the Georgetown wharf.
A press release from CANU said the illegal substance weighed 54 pounds and has a street value of approximately GUY$17 million (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents).
“However, the fact that it was discovered on the wharf, indicates that it was intended for transshipment to another overseas territory which would have increased its street value based on its destination” the release noted.
“It must be mentioned that staff from CANU and other agencies recently participated in several maritime training courses which included container cargo operations and vessel searches.
“These courses were facilitated by the UNODC and United States government and were aimed at strengthening the capabilities of law enforcement units operating at port facilities throughout the country,” CANU concluded.
CANU said an investigation is currently underway to uncover those responsible.
A recent string of high-profile interceptions targeting international drug trafficking operations has confirmed Guyana remains a crucial transit point for cocaine headed to the United States and across the Atlantic.
The nation’s porous borders with major drug trafficking nations, including Venezuela and Brazil, make it an ideal jumping-off point for smugglers moving cocaine to the United States, Canada, Europe, West African transit nations and the Caribbean.
The head of Guyana’s Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit told InSight Crime the nation is caught in the crosshairs of drug trafficking networks operating between “supply” and “demand” countries.
The US State Department’s most recent International Narcotics Control Strategy report urged Guyana to “enhance its anti-corruption initiatives, increase interagency cooperation, and fully pursue prosecutions for narcotics trafficking.”
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