A Caribbean Airlines clerk, who allegedly checked in a cocaine-filled suitcase on Sunday, and passed it off as belonging to an outgoing passenger, is in police custody and will appear in court today.
Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CAUN) officers, who discovered the banned substance, which weighed 3.5 kilogrammes, had detained and questioned the passenger.
Stabroek News understands that the passenger, a Guyanese resident in the US, was here on official business was about to board the flight when he was stopped and informed by CANU officers, about half an hour after he checked in, that the substance was found in his suitcase.
However, investigations revealed that the man had only checked in one piece of luggage, which was not the bag with the cocaine. The CANU officers then investigated further and on Monday, the check-in clerk was taken into custody.
Stabroek News also understands that the clerk was seen filling out a baggage tag and then checking in a separate bag with the last passenger’s name and other information.
A reliable source told this newspaper that another person who was on duty the same day was taken to the police station for further questioning and several other persons at the airport were also questioned.
An airline had almost suffered penalties from the US authorities after a suitcase belonging to one of its passengers was intercepted at a New York airport with some 70 pounds of cocaine. The Guyanese passenger, Gavin Waaldijk was charged with knowingly and unlawfully importing cocaine into the US following the interception of the suitcase at the JFK Airport in New York.
Back in June, CANU ranks at the airport intercepted a suitcase bound for Canada with 6,583 grammes of cocaine inside. Officials had said that from all appearances, persons unknown were attempting to smuggle the drug out of the country by labelling the suitcase with the name of a passenger who was scheduled to leave for Canada. That passenger was not arrested.
A CANU officer had told the media that on that day a woman in a wheelchair scheduled to leave on a Zoom Airlines flight bound for Canada checked in with one black suitcase. The officer said an airline official later noticed a brown suitcase next to the woman’s and on checking discovered that the woman’s name was written on it but in a different handwriting.
Officials at the airport were alerted and on checking found six huge parcels of cocaine underneath two bath towels.
In September, a 55-year-old man travelling to the US from here, was caught with heroine when he arrived there aboard a Constellation Airlines Flight. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Inspectors had selected Truls Soerbotten for inspection and he had presented one suitcase. The tag on the suitcase matched the security wrap tags and the suitcase was locked with a personal combination lock, the US made case against him noted. Doyle said when Soerbotten was asked by CBP officers, he voluntarily opened the combination lock. Upon inspection of the suitcase, CBP officers observed that the plastic lining was unusually thick. Further inspection of a crack in the lining of the suitcase revealed a brown powdery substance that field-tested positive for heroin. Doyle said that the gross weight of the substance was 3,530 grammes, but this weight reflects that of the heroin as well as the weight of a portion of the suitcase which could not be separated from the drug prior to it being sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration laboratory
This newspaper had asked Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon to comment on the matter after the first bust was made which pointed to possible collaboration between drug traffickers and airport staff. He had said he felt that some airport staff were collaborating with external forces to facilitate drug trafficking.
“I don’t have a problem saying that members of staff are collaborating with external forces and have arrangements to have drugs sent out by air… I think their support extends as far as deliberately disabling surveillance equipment in place at the airport,” Luncheon had said.
This newspaper has also learnt that stemming from one of the ongoing drug investigations, a number of police constables have either been moved or transferred to other areas. However, this could not be confirmed with police yesterday.
