The three coastguards who were arrested in a civilian boat on Sunday were up to press time still being questioned by police and so far investigators have not discovered anything incriminating, police sources said yesterday.
Meanwhile, this newspaper has been told that the owner of the boat, said to be a resident of Better Hope, East Coast Demerara has since told the police that the ranks borrowed his vessel. The man according to the army operates a boat service from Charity to the North West District. The ranks inclusive of an officer were held at Parika with three and a half drums of fuel, four cellular phones, one Global Positioning System (GPS) device and $116,000 aboard.
The officer was also in possession of his service pistol and five matching rounds.
The army has since said that the trio made an “unauthorized” trip from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) coastguard base at Morawhanna in Region One (Barima/Waini).
They were arrested on a directive given by the army Chief of Staff and taken to the Parika Police Station. The pistol and the other items are in the custody of the GDF.
The men aroused suspicion after they reportedly started asking for directions to Parika, while on the Essequibo River. Residents then alerted the police and the men were detained around 16:50 hours.
A joint criminal investigation involving representatives of the Guyana Police Force, the GDF’s G2 Branch and the Coast Guard is in progress.
