A well-known ex-policeman is now in police custody in Suriname following a big cocaine bust in that country and according to well-placed sources the drugs originated from Guyana.
According to a report in the de Ware Tijd, units of the Surinamese Police Force (KPS) intercepted 28 kilos of cocaine, US$ 147,000, two handguns, two cars and a moped during raids on two separate locations on Monday. The report said that three Surinamese and one Guyanese (who was described as an entrepreneur) were arrested and police expect more arrests will follow.
Contacted this morning Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), James Singh would only say that his unit is aware of the bust but declined to divulge any further information.
However, Stabroek News has been reliably informed by security sources that the cocaine originated from Guyana and entered Suriname via the Guyana/Suriname ferry in a vehicle. According to sources the ex-policeman has had several brushes with the law and it has been long suspected that he was involved in narco-trafficking.
Over the years, several Guyanese have been held in Suriname on drug related incidents. Drug kingpin Roger Khan, who is now serving 15 years in the US after pleading guilty to drug charges, and his then bodyguards were held in Suriname in 2006. While they never faced any charges Khan was later turned over to the US authorities, who had indicted him, while his guards were later deported to Guyana.
The March 2007 US drug report had indicated that Guyanese narcotics traffickers regularly moved shipments of cocaine through Suriname and in some deals Guyanese traffickers swapped weapons for drugs. The US mentioned also that smugglers used boats to enter Guyana’s many remote but navigable rivers, and that some of them took direct routes, such as crossing the uncontrolled borders with Brazil, Suriname, and Venezuela.
In September 2009 several illegal Guyanese were booted out of Suriname and 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 nabbed following the launching of ‘Operation Koetai,’ a joint operation by the country’s army and police, which was said to be a wide-scale security operation.
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 the assistance of public-spirited citizens he was arrested and detained by police several hours later.
There have also been several cases where Guyanese have been killed execution-style after returning from drug runs in Suriname.
The bust in Suriname comes on the heels of a bust at the JFK airport on December 29 last when a Guyanese man who said he is a guard at Yankee Stadium in New York was caught with cocaine after telling inspectors he had “cooked rabbit” in his luggage.
Roger Levans had arrived from Guyana on a Delta Airline flight and while two of his bags had fruits and vegetables the third bag had the cocaine. He has since been released on US$100,000 bail.
The find added to continuing concerns about the quality of security at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri. While some couriers are held at the airport others are getting through. The most spectacular recently was the transit of a pink suitcase with 50 lbs of cocaine on January 12 last year. The suitcase made it to JFK and the passenger was charged in New York and charges were also laid against persons here. Dorothy Sears, who had checked in the suitcase, is now awaiting sentencing in the US.
