Guyana Review publishes the main body of the US State Department’s 2008 Inter-national Narcotics Control Strategy Report on Guyana. Only the brief summary at the commencement of the report has been excluded.
More than two years after launching its National Drug Strategy Master Plan (NDSMP) for 2005-2009, the Government of Guyana has not effectively implemented it. 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.
Guyana is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.
. Status
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.
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 on a large scale.
Country Actions Against Drugs in 2007
Policy Initiatives in 2007:
The Government of Guyana signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Great Britain to implement a US$5 million, multi-year programme for reform of the security sector, which includes enhancing the investigative capacity of law enforcement agencies. The GOG requested and received US$500 000 in US Department of Defense funds to refurbish its only seaworthy Coast Guard vessel, to patrol its 285 mile coastline.
Guyana commenced the issuance of machine-readable passports, in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) standards, which will help thwart the use of identity fraud and cross-border criminal activities. The government has tabled legislation that would augment the tools currently available to it in fighting money laundering, including regulations to allow for the seizure of assets, the chances for its passage are unclear.
The positive steps of 2007, notwithstanding, the Government of Guyana has accomplished few of the principal goals laid out in its ambitious 2005 NDSMP. 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.
Law Enforcement Efforts
Despite the lack of adequate resources, poor inter- agency coordination, and allegations of corruption, 2007 saw modest improvement in enforcement at the working level. In 2007, Guyanese law enforcement agencies seized 167 kilograms (kgs) of cocaine, a nearly threefold increase over the amount seized in 2006, 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 $1.2 million. 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.
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, wire-tapping, or the use of DNA evidence. Nor are there laws against racketeering or conspiracy. 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 meager personnel budgets. There are no routine patrols of the numerous land entry points on the 1,800 miles border with Venezuela, Brazil, and Suriname.
The Government of Guyana 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.
Corruption
There is no evidence that the Government of Guyana or senior government officials encourage or facilitate the illicit production, processing, shipment or distribution of narcotics 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 substantive information is anecdotal at best. Guyana is party to the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC) , but has yet to fully implement its provisions, such as seizure of property obtained through corruption. Guyana is not a party to the UN Convention against Corruption.
Agreements and Treaties
Guyana is a party to the 1961 UN Single Convention, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 UN Drug Convention. Guyana also is a party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its protocol on trafficking in persons and the Inter American Convention against Corruption. The 1931 Extradition Treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom is applicable to the US and Guyana, but there is no bilateral mutual legal assistance treaty between the US and Guyana. In March 2006, Guyana signed the OAS Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, to which the US is a party; assistance has also been regularly provided on an informal basis. Guyana signed a bilateral agreement with the US on Maritime counter-narcotics cooperation in 2001; however, it has not yet taken the necessary domestic actions to bring the agreement into force. Guyana has bilateral agreements to cooperate on drug trafficking issues with its neighbors and with the United Kingdom. Guyana is also a member of the Organisation of American States’ Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD).
Cultivation and Production
A very high-grade form of cannabis is grown in Guyana, primarily in the intermediate savannahs, and its cultivation is reportedly increasing. In 2007, Guyanese authorities eradicated 15,280 kilograms of cannabis.
Drug Flow/Transit
There are no reliable estimates regarding the amount of cocaine or cannabis that transits Guyana. According to United States Government law enforcement authorities, Guyanese narcotics traffickers regularly move shipments of cocaine through the country. Some cannabis cultivated in Guyana is also smuggled out of the country, although in more modest quantities. Drugs flow easily through Guyana’s uncontrolled borders and coastline. Light aircraft land at numerous isolated airstrips or make airdrops where operatives on the ground retrieve the drugs. Smugglers use small boats and freighters to enter Guyana’s many remote but navigable rivers. Smugglers also take direct routes, such as driving or boating across the borders with Brazil, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Inside the country, narcotics are transported to Georgetown, by road, water, or air and then sent on to the Caribbean, North America, or Europe via commercial air carriers or cargo ships. Authorities have arrested drug mules attempting to smuggle small amounts of cocaine on virtually every northbound route out of the international airport. In 2007 there was a surge in law enforcement seizures at the airport of suitcases carrying drugs that had been added to the baggage queue after check-in and tagged in the names of unsuspecting passengers. Police officials also witnessed a notable upward trend in the use of the Guyana Post Office as an avenue for the trafficking of cocaine in small quantities, further demonstrating the malleable tactics of trafficking organizations.
Demand Reduction (Domestic Programmes)
Marijuana is sold and consumed openly in Guyana, despite frequent arrests for possessing small amounts of cannabis. Sources within the Government of Guyana and a local Non Governmental Organization (NGO) note that consumption of all psychotropic substances in Guyana is increasing with a particularly dramatic rise in the use of Ecstasy (MDMA).
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 programmes. Guyana has two facilities that treat substance abuse – the Salvation Army and the Phoenix Recovery Center. There are no programmes to deal with substance abuse in the prisons.
US Policy Initiatives and Programmes
US policy focuses on cooperating with Guyana’s law enforcement agencies, promoting good governance, and facilitating demand reduction programmes. In 2007, the United States Government continued to encourage Guyanese participation in bilateral and multilateral counter-narcotics initiatives, and funded a substance abuse treatment programme for women (two previously existing programmes in Guyana only funded treatment for men) The US is also funding projects to improve governance in Guyana, which includes parliamentary and judicial reform.
Bilateral Cooperation
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) works with Guyana’s government and its law enforcement agencies to provide training and to develop initiatives that will enhance their counter-narcotics activities. The Government of Guyana routinely grants diplomatic credentials to DEA officers who cover Guyana from the US Embassy in Trinidad, and working level collaboration is generally positive. In 2007, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) provided maritime law enforcement training to the Guyana Defence Force. (GDF)
The Road Ahead
Neither the Government of Guyana nor the various drug enforcement bodies of the US 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/INL involvement, the US will continue to channel any future assistance to initiatives that demonstrate success in treating substance abusers.
The US will also continue to use its diplomatic tools to encourage the Government of Guyana to organize an effective counter-narcotics programme, especially within the context of the British-funded overhaul of the security sector. The Government of Guyana also needs to pass effective legislation to deal with money laundering, including provisions allowing forfeiture of seized assets.
