A Dutch national, who allegedly had close contacts with several Guyanese, was arrested last week Thursday in Suriname with eight high-powered M-16 military assault weapons, a Caribbean Net News report said yesterday.
According to the report, the man was arrested during a sting operation by that country’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and it is alleged that he and the Guyanese were to close an arms deal. Investigations are continuing, the report said, and authorities have not ruled out further arrests.
Meanwhile, according to the report, authorities said they have arrested a member of the Colombian rebel organisation FARC, who was conspiring with other individuals to commit criminal activities in Suriname. The detainee, only identified as Jose R. was subsequently deported and turned over to judicial officials from Colombia.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Suriname’s Justice Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi told reporters that Jose R. had been arrested for immigration violations. He had allegedly entered Suriname illegally and was posing a threat to national security with his intended activities, the report said.
The minister said the police and several law enforcement agencies are continuing investigations into alleged subversive activities against the government. Last Tuesday the minister announced that come next week special units will launch to prevent attacks and to detain major criminals. He is of the opinion that international criminal organisations such as the Colombian FARC rebel movement are behind the attacks, while the criminal underworld from Africa were also involved in planning attacks in Suriname, the report said.
However, he did not give any more details while claiming that the groups are aiming at destabilisation of the country and possibly assisting former dictator Desi Bouterse to overthrow the present administration.
Bouterse is facing a lengthy jail term if convicted for the killing of 15 critics of his then military regime in December 1982. The trial in this case started last week and will resume on December 17, 2007.
The report said Jose R. is the second alleged FARC member deported from Suriname since 2002. On June 18, 2002 Carlos Bolas, a Colombian national and a leader of the Colombian narco-terrorist group, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia (FARC), was turned over to the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for drug trafficking.
On June 19, 2002, Bolas was transported to the Washington DC and subsequently arraigned in a US District Court.
