While noting increased cocaine seizures and a UK-funded security plan, the
annual US State Department report on drug control has criticized Guyana for not effectively implementing its drug master plan two years after it was launched.
The 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) released yesterday said that more than two years after launching its National Drug Strategy Master Plan for 2005-2009, the Government of Guyana has not effectively implemented it.
It states too that neither the GOG nor the various drug enforcement bodies of the U.S. have dedicated the resources to determine the quantity of illegal drugs flowing through Guyana. “All projections are speculative based on the few seizures made. In the absence of both sound data and more robust DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)/INL (Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs) involvement, the U.S. will not augment resources for investigation and interdiction in Guyana. Instead, it will continue to channel any future assistance to initiatives that demonstrate success in treating substance abusers,” the report says.
It added that the U.S. will also continue to use its diplomatic tools to encourage the GOG to organize an effective counter narcotics programme, especially within the context of the British-funded overhaul of the security sector.
In volume one of the report, which deals with narcotics, the US Department of State said that cooperation among law enforcement bodies is fragmented and minimally productive. “Weak border controls and limited resources for law enforcement allow drug traffickers to move shipments via river, air, and land without meaningful resistance,” the report says.
The report said that Guyana is a transit country for cocaine, and to a lesser degree marijuana. “Guyana’s vast expanse of unpopulated forest and savannahs offers ample cover for drug traffickers and smugglers. Government counter-narcotics efforts are undermined by inadequate resources for law enforcement, poor coordination among law enforcement agencies, an inefficient judiciary, and a colonial-era legal system badly in need of modernization,” the INCSR says.
“Murders, kidnappings, and other violent crimes commonly believed to be linked with narcotics trafficking are regularly reported in the Guyanese media. Guyana produces high-grade cannabis and is not known to produce, trade, or transit precursor chemicals on a large scale,” it says.
The report points out that the positive steps of 2007, notwithstanding, the Government of Guyana has accomplished few of the principal goals laid out in its “ambitious” 2005 National Drug Strategy Master Plan.
“The Joint Intelligence Coordination Centre (JICC), the formation of which was a central element of the 2005 NDSMP, is defunct. In its place, a task force covering narcotics and illegal weapons has been assembled by the Minister for Home Affairs and meets monthly, but there remains limited productive interaction or intelligence sharing among the organizations involved,” says the report.
The report added that despite the lack of adequate resources, poor inter-agency coordination, and allegations of corruption, 2007 saw modest improvements in enforcement at the working level. “In 2007, Guyanese law enforcement agencies seized 167 kilogrammes (kgs) of cocaine, a nearly threefold increase over the amount seized in 2006, but mostly due to one large seizure. In May, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) seized 106 kgs of cocaine hidden in dried fish glue at a home near Georgetown, and arrested four men in connection with the operation; one of these individuals was sentenced in November to ten years in prison and fined $1.2M. In July, police arrested Terrence Sugrim, an accused drug trafficker who had been indicted in New York federal court a few weeks earlier; he is appealing his possible extradition to the US,” the report noted.
According to the report, Guyana’s counter narcotics activities are encumbered by the peculiarities of a British colonial-era legal system that has not been updated to reflect the needs of modern-day law enforcement. “There are no laws that support plea bargaining, wiretapping, or the use of DNA evidence. Nor are there laws against racketeering or conspiracy,” it says.
It says that even when more contemporary crime fighting tools are available to one law enforcement body, they are not necessarily available to others. “At Guyana’s international airport, for example, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) operates surveillance cameras to help thwart tax fraud. But the cameras are not well-placed to aid counter narcotics operations, video footage is not shared with narcotics authorities and it is not clear that it would be admissible in drug-related court proceedings. In all cases, law enforcement agencies are hamstrung by meagre personnel budgets. There are no routine patrols of the numerous land entry points on the 1,800 miles of border with Venezuela, Brazil, and Suriname,” the report finds.
The US Department of State said in the report that the GOG has not identified or confronted major drug traffickers and their organizations. “While the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Narcotics Branch and CANU arrested dozens of drug couriers at Guyana’s international airport en route to the Caribbean, North America, and Europe, the arrests were limited to individuals with small amounts of marijuana, crack cocaine or powder cocaine, usually on charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking,” the report states.
It stated that there is no evidence that the Government of Guyana or senior Government officials encourage or facilitate the illicit production, processing, shipment or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. “News media routinely report on instances of corruption reaching to high levels of government that are not investigated and thus go unpunished, but no conclusive evidence is available to back up these claims. USG analysts believe drug trafficking organizations in Guyana continue to elude law enforcement agencies through bribes and coercion, but substantiating information is anecdotal at best,” it states.
Although Guyana is party to the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC), it has yet to fully implement its provisions, such as seizure of property obtained through corruption, it states, noting that Guyana is not a party to the UN Convention against Corruption.
The INCSR states that marijuana is sold and consumed openly in Guyana, despite frequent arrests for possessing small amounts of cannabis. “Sources within the GOG and a local NGO note that consumption of all psychotropic substances in Guyana is increasing, with a particularly dramatic rise in the use of Ecstasy (MDMA),” the report states, adding that marijuana use has been seen among children as young as eleven years old.
“Guyana’s ability to deal with drug abusers is hampered by the modest financial resources to support rehabilitation programs. Guyana only has two facilities that treat substance abuse -the Salvation Army and the Phoenix Recovery Centre. There are no programs to deal with substance abuse in the prisons,” the report states.
The report has been awaited with interest in recent years because of the drug situation here. Its mention of businessman Roger Khan in the 2006 report is thought to have triggered a series of events leading to the businessman’s indictment in the US.
Money laundering
The study found that Guyana is neither an important regional nor an offshore financial centre, nor does it have any free trade zones. It says that money laundering is perceived as a serious problem, and has been linked to trafficking in drugs, firearms, and persons, as well as to corruption and fraud.
“The Government of Guyana (GOG) made no arrests or prosecutions for money laundering in 2007. Guyana currently has inadequate legal and enforce
ment mechanisms to combat money laundering, although legislation tabled in Parliament would enhance the GOG’s anti-money laundering regime,” volume two of the report says.
The report says that the Government of Guyana’s anti-money laundering regime is rendered ineffective by other major structural weaknesses of the 2000 Money Laundering Prevention Act.
“While the MLPA provides for the seizure of assets derived as proceeds of crime, guidelines for implementing seizures and forfeitures have never been established. “Conviction for a predicate offence is considered necessary before a money laundering conviction can be obtained, and the list of such predicate offences is cursory,” the report points out.
It says that while the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) may request additional information from obligated entities, it does not have access to law enforcement information or the authority to exchange information with its foreign counterparts. “These limitations collectively stifle the analytical and investigative capabilities of the FIU and law enforcement agencies. As a result of these legislative weaknesses, there have been no money laundering prosecutions or convictions to date.”
New money laundering legislation tabled in 2007 provides for oversight of export industries, the insurance industry, real estate, and alternative remittance systems, and sets forth the penalties for non-compliance. It also establishes the FIU as an independent body that answers only to the President, and defines in detail its role and powers. “The draft legislation was tabled in Parliament in late 2007, but its passage in the near future is uncertain,” the report states.
“The Government of Guyana should pass the draft legislation on money laundering and terrorist financing that is currently before the Parliament. The passage of this legislation would extend preventive measures to a far wider range of reporting entities, including casinos and designated non-financial businesses and professions. The draft legislation would also provide greater resources and critical autonomy for the FIU, enable the FIU to access law enforcement data, and ensure that the FIU has the operational capacity to meet the membership requirements of the Egmont Group,” the INCSR states.
