2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) March 3, 2011 Guyana
A. Introduction
Guyana is a transshipment point for cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela destined for North America, Europe, and the Caribbean. Generally, small aircraft transporting cocaine land at remote airstrips in Guyana’s unpopulated interior highlands or coastal savannah regions to refuel and continue on to offshore destinations. Due to weak land and maritime border controls and the vast unpatrolled interior, drug traffickers are able to conduct operations without significant interference from law enforcement agencies. The ability to detect drug shipments has received some recent investment, but a lack of focused interdiction operations and the capacity to monitor and control its expansive borders hinder enforcement of anti-trafficking laws.
Guyana has a drug enforcement presence at the major international airport, post offices, and to a lesser extent at the port of Georgetown. The majority of drug enforcement assets are centered in the capital, although progress has been made in building capacity in the interior. The three major agencies involved in anti-drug efforts are the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), and the Guyana Defense Force (GDF). Of the three, CANU has the most institutional knowledge and drug enforcement experience.
Cannabis is grown in Guyana, and high-potency cannabis is smuggled in from Jamaica. This is mostly for domestic consumption, and is not trafficked in significant quantities. The most commonly used drug in Guyana is marijuana, followed closely by cocaine. Ecstasy is becoming more prominent, although its use is still low. Drug treatment activities are hindered by low funding and a lack of public awareness. Guyana is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.
B. Drug control accomplishments, policies, and trends
1. Institutional development
Overall, Guyana’s counternarcotics 2010 activities were challenged by the consistently marginal commitment and capacity at all levels of government, despite some achievements late in the year. Movements to modernize a colonial-era legal system based on English common law often stall or lack priority. Signed into law in 2008, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act (AMLCFTA), the Interception of Communications Bill, and the Criminal Procedure Bill were designed to enhance both the investigative capability of law enforcement authorities and prosecutors’ ability to obtain convictions in drug related cases. To the government’s credit, the AMLCFTA was used in 2010 in court proceedings, when Guyanese authorities obtained a conviction of a Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) employee in its first case under the Act. The case was prosecuted with significant cooperation provided by the United Kingdom (UK). Guyanese authorities have not yet handled a money laundering case from start to finish on their own, however.
Although, law enforcement agencies lack adequate government support and face perpetual personnel, training and budgetary challenges that undermine effective or sustained counternarcotics operations, there were some notable actions taken this year. For example, in March 2010, GPF units destroyed 10 marijuana fields with support from a GDF helicopter along the Berbice River. The GPF burnt 28,000 plants weighing approximately 22 metric tons, as well as, 45,000 two-inch plants that were found in 15 nurseries. This seizure was the largest of three separate raids over a two week period that also netted additional marijuana, drug equipment and arrests. Guyana’s 2005-2009 National Drug Strategy Master Plan (NDSMP) expired last year and it achieved few of its original goals. However, using the NDSMP as a guide, CANU’s drug enforcement operations at the international airport were reinforced while it also continued to modestly expand capability as an intelligence gathering and analysis organization. As CANU officials continued to make plans to conduct counter-drug operations in the interior region, the GRA assumed responsibilities from CANU for drug interdiction at the Port of Georgetown in March 2010. The GRA has no dedicated drug enforcement unit and did not receive funding specifically to support its new role in drug enforcement. A new shipping container scanner was received in June and is expected to be operational in 2011. While the main purpose of the scanner will be to counter smuggling activities related to duties and tariffs, it may have the secondary effect of deterring drug smuggling. Guyana also worked more closely with Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados, on an operational level in 2010, utilizing personal relationships and existing CARICOM treaties to create information exchanges on narcotics trafficking.
Guyana is party to the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters; the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances; and the 1988 UN Drug Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Guyana also is party to the UN Convention Against Corruption, the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its three Protocols, 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. In 2008, Guyana acceded to, and has filed information requests under, the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, to which the United States is also a party. Guyana has bilateral agreements to cooperate on drug trafficking issues with its neighbours and with the United Kingdom. Guyana is also a member of the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD).
2. Supply reduction
The uncontrolled borders and coastal areas of Guyana allow for unfettered drug transit. 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. Once 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. While there are no reliable estimates regarding the amount of cocaine or cannabis that transits through Guyana, USG law enforcement authorities say that Guyanese narcotics traffickers regularly move shipments of cocaine and marijuana through the country.
In 2010, modest efforts to reduce supply by Guyanese law enforcement agencies yielded 105 kilogrammes of cocaine, according to the Guyana Police and government media reports. US law enforcement officials were involved in the seizure of 73 kilogrammes of the 105 kilogrammes of cocaine seized in 2010. This compares to seizures of 137 kilogrammes of cocaine in 2009 and 48 kilogrammes in 2008. Authorities seized and eradicated an undetermined amount of marijuana in 2010 though modest estimates of seized packages and plants indicate it was over 25 metric tons. This is a sharp increase over the 183 kilogrammes reported seized in 2009. The amount of heroin seized in 2010 was approximately 1.2 kilogrammes; two kilograms of heroin were seized in 2009. These figures, however, likely represent only a fraction of the drugs trafficked through Guyana. The number of criminal charges filed against individuals for activities related to the trafficking or distribution of illicit drugs for 2010 was 683; there were 648 such charges in 2009 and 473 in 2008.
Currently, there are no routine patrols of the numerous land entry points on the 1,800 miles of border with Venezuela, Brazil, and Suriname. While operating at the international airport, the GPF Narcotics Branch and CANU have engaged in the occasional arrest of low level drug couriers, who carry only small amounts of crack or powder cocaine, and marijuana. Much larger quantities seized in North American airports of cocaine coming from Guyana demonstrate lack of detection capability.
Drug interdiction efforts have yet to take place at the port of Georgetown since responsibility for counternarcotics at the port was transferred to the GRA. Though the GRA routinely searches outbound containers for smuggled goods, no searches are conducted specifically for drug interdiction, and no seizures were made at the port in 2010. On average, 500 containers each month are shipped from the port, with approximately half destined for the United States. GRA officials are required to be present during the packing of containers for export; otherwise the containers are subjected to physical search at the port.
Until the container x-ray scanner is operational, GRA is not capable of conducting 100 per cent inspections of outbound containers, despite the small number of shipments. GRA customs inspectors have not received any training on how to conduct counternarcotics searches.
In general, the GDF, with approximately 2,500 members, supports law enforcement agencies and their operations with boats, aircraft and personnel, but does not have law enforcement authority. The Guyana Coast Guard (GCG), a GDF sub-component and key partner in maritime interdiction, has approximately 250 members and its primary missions are patrolling the territorial waters of Guyana and humanitarian search and rescue. Unfortunately, its lone offshore patrol boat was in dry dock undergoing repairs for the majority of the year, and therefore was unable to carry out offshore drug patrols or interdictions. However, smaller patrol vessels do conduct patrols along the coast and inland waterways.
3. Drug awareness, demand reduction, and treatment
Guyana’s ability to deal with drug abusers is impeded by the modest financial resources available to support rehabilitation programmes. Guyana only has two residential facilities that treat substance abuse: the Salvation Army and the Phoenix Recovery Centre. Both are partially funded by the government, but they have budgetary constraints and often rely on donations from addict’s families to stay open. Since 2007, the Ministry of Health has run several modest demand reduction programmes in the media, schools, and prisons, as well as outpatient talk-therapy treatment. Awareness efforts are inconsistent and lack material results, due to budgetary shortfalls. There is little by way of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) support in demand reduction.
Marijuana continues to be the most common drug used by Guyanese. Marijuana is sold and consumed openly in Guyana, despite frequent arrests for possession of small amounts of cannabis. Evidence points to high quality marijuana originating in Jamaica ending up in Guyana. Crack cocaine is becoming more popular, and is quite affordable, costing as little as fifty [US] cents per dose. The prevalence of ecstasy has increased greatly in the past year, although it remains a minor drug. There is also a significant link between the drug problem in Guyana and HIV, with a significant number of addicts testing positive for the disease. The number of addicts has remained steady, but there has been a trend of younger people becoming addicted to drugs.
4. Corruption
As a matter of policy, the Government of Guyana does not encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. News media, however, routinely report on alleged instances of corruption; some reports implicated police personally retaining drugs from seizures while others point to high government officials that are not investigated and thus go unpunished. As mentioned earlier, a GRA employee was convicted in 2010 for crimes under the AMLCFTA in a drug trafficking case. The case was prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecution , and it saw international cooperation from police officers from Scotland Yard, who were among the nine witnesses that testified at the trial. This case was part of a larger investigation that began in 2006 in the UK and included other countries where the ‘Bling Bling’ gang appeared to operate. Several persons connected to this investigation, many of them Guyanese, were convicted in the UK in 2006.
Guyana is party to the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption , but has yet to fully implement its provisions, such as seizure of property obtained through corruption. Guyana is also party to the UN Convention Against Corruption.
C. National goals, bilateral cooperation, and US policy initiatives
US policy focuses on co-operating with Guyana’s law enforcement agencies, promoting good governance, and facilitating demand reduction programmes. The USG continues to encourage Guyanese participation in bilateral and multilateral counternarcotics initiatives, including the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. The Government of Guyana has a maritime counter-drug bilateral agreement with the USG.
In 2010, the USCG provided the GDF Coast Guard with training in maritime law enforcement and small boat maintenance, improving their maritime security capabilities. In addition, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, office continued to collaborate with Guyana’s law enforcement agencies in counternarcotics-related activities, and reported a generally favourable and improving working relationship.
D. Conclusion
The US encourages the Government of Guyana to effectively implement recent legislation and regulations supporting counternarcotics efforts.
We look forward to collaborating with Guyanese law enforcement to test the amended extradition law and emphasize the need for vigorous enforcement of laws against money laundering and financial crimes. Mean-while, recently acquired equipment such as the maritime patrol craft and container scanner by the GRA should be optimized for long term use through development of training, evaluation and maintenance requirements. In addition, the execution of joint operations through task forces to accomplish complex raids and seize record amounts of marijuana sa stronger commitment to the counternarcotics mission and the rule of law.
