Several illegal Guyanese were booted out of neighbouring Suriname in the last few days, while at least four, including a preacher, were detained for offences ranging from drug trafficking to violation of the country’s Foreign Currency Act, a Caribbean Net News report said.
According to the report, the Guyanese were netted following the launching of ‘Operation Koetai,’ a joint operation by the country’s army and police, which is said to be a wide-scale security operation.
The operation is aimed at curbing criminal activities and illegal immigration in the western districts of Suriname. Most deportees were held at a checkpoint in Burnside in the Coronie district while travelling from the border town Nieuw-Nickerie en route to the capital Paramaribo.
The report quoted the country’s police spokesman, Under-Inspector Humphrey Naarden, as stating that some 65 Guyanese were arrested during the operation and while most of them showed valid identification and travel documents none of them entered the country at an official point of entry.
It was disclosed that in one incident two Guyanese were arrested in a boat on the Corentyne River with a large quantity of goods they intended to smuggle into Suriname. During another raid one Guyanese man, a Brazilian woman and two Chinese men were arrested on the same river.
According to the police spokesman, the Brazilian woman and the Chinese were trying to cross the border illegally.
The Chinese men were in possession of two brand new Surinamese passports, which during the investigation proved to be false.
Meanwhile, last Tuesday police arrested a 25-year old Guyanese man who entered Suriname legally at the South Drain ferry crossing, but failed to report a large sum of foreign currency to the immigration authorities. The suspect was accompanied by a 21-year old Surinamese woman.
In their possession they had US$35,000 and $326,000. Both have been detained and charged with violation of the Foreign Currency Act.
In two separate cases, two Guyanese men, one of whom claimed to be a preacher, were arrested for drug trafficking. They had one kilogramme and one pound of marijuana in their possession, respectively.
While being searched by police officers, the alleged preacher dashed into the mangrove woods alongside the road, but with assistance of public-spirited citizens he was arrested and detained by police several hours later.