US drug accused Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan purchased computer telephonic surveillance equipment from the Spy Shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with permission from the Guyana government, according to Khan’s defence attorney.
In a subpoena to the Drug Enforcement Administration from Defence Attorney Robert M Simels, dated April 28, 2008, it is stated that following Khan’s arrest, “FBI agent Justin Krider investigated Khan’s purchase of the computer telephonic surveillance equipment from the Spy Shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and found Khan had permission from the Government of Guyana to purchase and possess this equipment.”
Attempts to contact President Bharrat Jagdeo, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, Presidential Advisor Gail Teixeira and Prime Minister Samuel Hinds for a response were unsuccessful. Requests to Assistant Press and Publicity Officer in the Office of the President Kwame McCoy to assist this newspaper in making contact with either the President or Dr Luncheon also produced no result.
Simels is seeking the testimony and all documents in Krider’s possession as these relate to the surveillance equipment purchased in Florida.
In a background paragraph the subpoena says that Khan is alleged to have used the equipment to improperly wiretap various high-ranking officials and others within Guyana in order to maintain his “alleged drug organization.”
Guyanese first became aware of Khan when he, Haroon Yahya and policeman Sean Belfield were detained on December 4, 2002 by an army patrol and turned over to the police following the discovery of sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment and arms in a pick-up at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara.
When they were caught, Khan and his partners had told law enforcement officials that they were in search of Shawn Brown and the other prison escapees who had fled the Camp Street prison earlier that year. The men were later charged with possession of arms and ammunition and placed on $500,000 bail each.
The charges were subsequently dismissed by Magistrate Jerrick Stephney at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court the next year.
From 1994 when he fled from the US to 2002 when he was caught with the surveillance equipment and arms, Khan had already established himself as businessman and had also secured government contracts working on a building project at the University of Guyana, one of his local attorneys disclosed.
Between 2002-2006 Khan kept a relatively low profile, although according to one of the statements he released when local police had set about trying to arrest him, during that time he had been involved in crime-fighting.
His lawyers told the court in New York that following the February 23, 2002 jailbreak when the escapees went on a killing spree he responded to the crisis, providing financial and logistical support to the government. “During the crime spree in 2002, I worked closely with the crime-fighting sections of the Guyana Police Force and provided them with assistance and information at my own expense.
“My participation was instrumental in curbing crime during this period,” Khan had said in one of his media statements.
The US has since alleged that a group he had set up was responsible for the murders of over 200 people during that period. Apart from the period immediately prior to Khan’s departure from Guyana for Suriname in 2006 because he was being sought by local law enforcers, his only other encounter with the police after the Good Hope incident came when properties owned by him were raided.
According to the subpoena Khan’s defence is also seeking all annual “country reports” for Guyana and Venezuela between 2001 and 2006 including, among other things, documents, reports, e-mails and facsimiles supporting the content of these reports.
They have also asked for documents related to the results of Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Information System searches for Khan’s various aliases, which are connected to Guyana and those of Guyanese descent.
