The determination of the Chairman of the Number 66 Fish Port Complex to assist fishermen who lost their engines to piracy has led police to recover two suspect stolen engines so far.
Pravinchandra Deodat who is also the President of the Berbice Anti-Piracy Committee and the Chairman of the Number 78 Community Policing Group, told Stabroek News that “based on intelligence” the latest engine was found at Clifton Settlement, Corentyne on Monday night.
He said a 20-year-old man who said that he bought the engine from a “well-known wanted pirate” has been taken into custody to assist with investigations. The alleged pirate reportedly fled the area during a spate of hijacking, a police source said.
A police press release stated that, acting on information received, the police in Berbice conducted a search on the house where they found a 48 HP Yamaha outboard engine that is suspected to be stolen or unlawfully obtained.
Deodat said that an operation at Bush Bush Polder revealed that suspected stolen engines were at a house. Together with police, he said they visited and conducted searches on Sunday and recovered a 48 Horsepower Yamaha engine.
A 52-year-old man was arrested and taken into custody at the Mibicuri Police Station and was then moved to Whim on Monday.
On January 1, he said wanted man and leader of the piracy ring, Kevin “Long Hair” Narine, was arrested in Suriname. He said an undercover agent in Suriname “that was feeding us with day-to -day information about his [Narine’s] movements alerted police that he was heading to Paramaribo in a car along with four associates.” Further, he said Narine “saw the police from a distance and ordered the driver to stop the car and he escaped and hid in the bushy area at Coroni.” Deodat said early the next morning he stopped a vehicle without realizing it was driven by a police officer and he was taken into custody.
Meanwhile Deodat said, “We started some underground work to combat the piracy and in December 2007 we [team of fishermen] went to Suriname to a place called “Sooland Creek” after a tipoff and discovered some of our engines and other items.”
Among the items found, he said were seven engines, engine leads, one power pack, a carburetor, a GPS, a 70 float seine weighing about 1,200 pounds, three barrels of gasoline and one empty barrels.
He said “a Dutchman saw us and he came up with his boat to see what we were doing there.” He said shortly after, the police who were already notified, arrived and conducted a search on the man’s boat and found another stolen engine, a shotgun and a mask.
Police also checked his house and found another engine under his bed. Three other Guyanese including a woman were also arrested.
The team from the complex had travelled to the neighbouring country to identify seven other suspected pirates who were earlier arrested.
Deodat said they were able to track down the men through their own “intelligence gathering” and alerted the police. They recognized four of the seven men.
This newspaper was told that the other men held were drinking at a bar in Copenaam when a man who was conducting undercover investigations for the complex heard them talking about “hijackings”.
The man informed the police after the men – all said to be Guyanese – left and they were traced to a boat. Deodat had told Stabroek News that over two years ago they had suspected the men but they never had enough evidence.
Deodat said he wants the “government to recognize the sacrifice the fishermen are making to catch these pirates because some persons were of the opinion that fishermen are stupid and that we should not be given guns. But look at the kind of work that we are doing
