The Guyana Police Force and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) have launched an investigation into the 40-pound cocaine bust in New York which originated in Guyana and some suspects have been identified but no arrests have been made, sources said yesterday.
Head of CANU James Singh confirmed that an investigation has been launched, but he declined to comment further saying, “when the investigation is through, I will be happy to share the findings.”
On June 2, a woman, Chandinee Segobind, checked in a suitcase filled with cocaine packed in Kerry Gold milk packets, which was not detected by Timehri airport security, the police or CANU. The suitcase filled with cocaine left the Cheddi Jagan International Airport on a Delta flight and was intercepted at the John F Kennedy Airport in New York.
Yesterday when asked, Singh said he was indeed concerned about the recent bust following closely on the January ‘pink suitcase’ bust of 50 pounds of cocaine. However, he said the police and CANU officers are involved in a “holistic investigation” looking at all angles, since something is seriously wrong.
He pointed out that persons have been charged in the pink suitcase bust, but this one still occurred and therefore there is need to look at whether it is just the human factor is involved.
“We are working together to look at this and I cannot reveal all the facts but just to say that an investigation has been launched,” he commented, adding, “we are looking at all the systems to see what went wrong.”
He stressed that it is not that CANU and the police have not been having successes in the drug fight at the airport and referred to last weekend’s arrest of an American man at the airport by CANU. He has since been sentenced to four years in prison.
‘In-depth’
Sources close to the security forces yesterday said the investigation launched will be a more “in-depth” investigation as the authorities are anxious to ascertain what is happening.
“Somebody has to know what is happening and since persons were arrested the last time and this thing is happening, they have to find out who it is,” one source said yesterday.
It was pointed out that both CANU and the police along with the airport have security personnel manning the scanner at the airport and it is difficult to understand how all could have colluded to allow a suitcase packed with cocaine to pass through especially in the light of the pink suitcase bust.
A suggestion that the scanner may be malfunctioning was dismissed by Chief Executive Officer of the airport Ramesh Ghir.
“The scanning machine, I can assure you works,” Ghir said yesterday when the question was put to him. He would not comment further on the issue only to say that the cocaine did leave through the airport and that an investigation has been launched. He pointed out that the police are conducting the investigation and they are the ones who will have to comment. Efforts to elicit a comment from Crime Chief Seelall Persaud or Commissioner Henry Greene proved futile as both were said to be unavailable.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee when contacted last evening said: “I have nothing to say, except to say that the matter is under investigation.”
Further pressed on the fact that he had said at a press conference that a “major cocaine ring” had been busted at the airport following the arrests over the pink suitcase, Rohee said: “Yeah well, let’s see what comes out of the investigation”.
Segobind was arrested in New York and according to authorities in the US, she said she was expected to receive payment for checking-in the suitcase with some 18,428.2 grammes of cocaine.
According to court documents seen by this newspaper, on June 2 the woman arrived at the JFK airport on Delta Airlines Flight 384 from Georgetown, Guyana.
A black ‘Hays’ suitcase with a baggage tag in her name arrived on the same flight but was not retrieved by her. Once the bag was not claimed it was taken to customs officers for inspection and they discovered some 18 powdered milk packages.
“The contents of these packages field tested positive for cocaine. In total, there was approximately 18,428.2 grammes of cocaine recovered from the above-described Kerry Gold powdered milk packages in the Hays bag,” court documents said.
On June 8, investigators went to a residence on 82nd Street in Queens, New York where Segobind resides, identified themselves, and informed her that they were looking for her.
“The defendant agreed to speak with investigators. During the subsequent interview, the defendant stated, in sum and substance, ‘I checked in the bag. I knew that there were drugs in the bag. I was supposed to get paid for doing this,’” authorities said. Segobind was then arrested and charged and she has since been remanded to prison.
On January 12, 50 pounds of cocaine were discovered in the US packed in a pink suitcase. Dorothy Sears had checked-in the suitcase at the airport but she was arrested in New York on arrival there. Sears had admitted that she had checked-in the pink suitcase and stated that she had been instructed by an individual in Guyana not to pick up the bag.
Four persons, Maurice Smith, a police dog handler; Roderick Peterkin, an employee with Roraima Airways; along with CANU employees Muniram Persaud and Shemika Tennant, were charged with conspiracy on March 11 in relation to the case.
Three of the accused, Smith, Peterkin and Tennant have since accused Director of Public Prose-cutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack of malicious prosecution and have moved to the High Court to challenge the charges laid against them.