The 10 kilogrammes of cocaine intercepted at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Timehri (CJIA) on Saturday night may have been belonged to a drug trafficking ring that is using aircraft ground handling staff to sneak drugs on to outgoing flights.
According to an official attached to an anti-narcotics agency, a well-organised ring of drug traffickers may have been operating at the CJIA recently in coordination with persons in other countries. The official said that investigation into Saturday night’s find suggests that the ground handling workers from airlines operating at the airport are involved.
The official explained that the unit was informed that persons would drive up to the fence at the airport during the early hours of the morning, in advance of the early morning flights. He said that these persons would throw the drugs over the fence to be retrieved by their counterparts on the airside, who would pack them on flights whose cargo would have been cleared by the scanner and other security details at the airport.
“In some cases, persons at the destination would retrieve the bags when they arrive and find an avenue to forward the drugs to its owner,” the official noted. He said that the situation should see clearer policies being implemented at the CJIA on security, including airline hiring policies. The official added that with each drug find, the traffickers try to find new avenues to ferry their cargo out using the airport.
Meanwhile, the charter service worker who was held after Saturday night’s discovery has been released. The worker had observed two duffle bags along the northern perimeter fence of the CJIA and raised an alarm. The man was subsequently taken into police custody but was later released after it was established that he was not connected to the incident.
Stabroek News had reported that the individual was employed by Caribbean Airlines but it has since learnt that the man was working with the crew of charter airline EZjet Air Services Limited.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud told this newspaper yesterday that the man was released from custody after the police could not find any case against him. He explained that the man was working on an aircraft that was on the ground at CJIA at the time and during the course of the night he walked across to the fence to smoke, since there is a no-smoking policy at the airport.
Persaud said that it was while the man was in the vicinity of the fence that he observed the two black duffle bags on the airside of the airport. He added that the man saw two police officers and informed them of the bags and he was later questioned and released.
At the time, Persaud noted, an outbound aircraft was already loaded with cargo and reports are that bag handlers attached to the airport may have had their plans interrupted when the charter service worker raised the alarm. Persaud said that the investigation is ongoing.
Over the years, an increasing number of persons have been placed before the courts here and in other jurisdictions in connection with the shipping of drugs through the CJIA, the country’s main air transport hub. At the same time, drug busts made overseas have not resulted in arrests here. During many recent drug busts at the CJIA, foreign nationals have been caught trying to smuggle the illegal substances. However, their contact persons here are never placed before the courts.
