Guyana’s political and judicial infrastructure has been impacted by narco-influence and its economy has become increasingly affected by drug money according to the US’s annual report to Congress which also expressed the hope for more co-operation from Georgetown on extraditions and fighting money-laundering.
The annual US Inter-national Narcotics Control Strategy Report has been a source of contention between Washington and Georgetown in recent years and has been closely read here ever since it named Roger Khan in 2006 as a known drug lord. That declaration triggered a series of events that eventually led to Khan’s capture in Suriname and transfer to Washington.
This year’s report released on Wednesday said that Guyana continues to be a transit country for cocaine intended for the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and West Africa. It said that the cocaine originating in Colombia is smuggled to Venezuela and onward to Guyana by sea.
“Guyana has seen its political and judicial infrastructure impacted by narco-influence, while its economy has become increasingly affected by narco-dollars”, the report said, adding that local drug trafficking outfits are increasingly using Suriname to smuggle drugs.
“Drug trafficking organizations based in Guyana are beginning to use neighboring Suriname as a major distribution hub. The cocaine is smuggled into Guyana and then transported to Suriname for safekeeping and distribution. In these instances, Suriname is used as a stash location and distribution country for drugs entering Guyana. In other cases, drugs depart directly from Guyana”, the report added. In recent years there have been many interceptions in Suriname of drug shipments originating from Guyana.
Noting that Guyana effected several acts dealing with money-laundering, the interception of communications and criminal procedure which were intended to boost the investigative capability of law enforcers, the State Department report pointed out that there wasn’t a single conviction under these laws last year.
It declared: “…there is an apparent lack of political will to investigate and prosecute drug trafficking organizations”. That charge has been one levelled at the PPP/C government by many Guyanese stakeholders.
The report noted the difficulty that Washington has experienced in relation to requests for extraditions from Georgetown. Adverting to the 1931 Extradition Treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom, the report said “Recent rulings in extradition hearings have severely challenged this treaty. For example, in 2008, a Guyanese court first made provisional arrests of fugitives very difficult and a second court held that the treaty was invalid because it lacked a re-extradition clause. The latter issue has been address-ed by a recently enacted amendment to the Guyanese Fugitive Offenders Act. The United States has not sought any extraditions since its enactment.”
The report noted that in 2011 around 352 kgs of cocaine was seized and 393 kg of marijuana and that as a result of these, cases were pending against 16 “mid-level and senior drug traffickers”.
On the question of corruption the report stated that while as a matter of policy the government does not encourage the drug trade, the media have report on corruption allegations some of which have implicated police while others “point to high government officials who are not investigated and thus go unpunished”.
And while Guyana is a party to the Inter-American Convention Against Corrup-tion, the report pointed out that Georgetown is yet to fully implement its provisions such as those related to the seizure of property obtained through corruption.
Pointing out that Guyana’s 2005-2009 National Drug Strategy Master Plan has expired, the report referred to a statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs that it will still continue to pursue a number of goals under this plan including a forensic lab.
In its first National Drug Report published last year the Government had stated that despite the limitations faced by the country, several programmes of the master plan were successfully implemented under four broad areas: supply control; prevention; treatment and rehabilitation; and institutional and managerial framework.
According to the report, 33 of the 36 programmes of the strategy were implemented, with 19 still incomplete and/or still on-going. Prelimi-nary arrangements were already initiated for the formulation of a new 2011-2016 strategy that will take into account the changing international and domestic drug situation, it had added.
Stating that the US embassy continues to support the setting up a Drug Enforcement Administration office here – another sore point between the two countries – the report said in conclusion ”The Government of Guyana has shown strong interest in furthering collaboration under CBSI, and the United States encourages the Government of Guyana to deepen these mutual efforts. U.S. agencies look forward to tangible progress on extraditions, security sector and judicial capacity enhancement, the engagement of at-risk communities, and enforcement of laws against money laundering and financial crimes.”
The 2012 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) is an annual report by the Department of State to Congress prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade in Calendar Year 2011.
The report last year on Guyana had stated that drug traffickers were able to conduct operations here without significant interference from law enforcement agencies with counternarcotics activities last year challenged by the consistently marginal commitment and capacity at all levels of government.
