Police are on the hunt for masked gunmen who tied up three persons including a Brazilian miner on Monday afternoon at Aramou Road, Cuyuni and escaped with $10M worth of raw gold.
Police said that the trio was rescued hours later unharmed.
According to a press release issued yesterday, around 1545 hours four masked men armed with one shotgun, two handguns and one with a cutlass attacked and robbed a Brazilian national Jucino Nunes age 59 years, of Boa Vista, Brazil.
Investigations revealed that Nunes who operates a shop at Far Back, Cuyuni, his wife and another female were on an ATV proceeding along the Aramou Road, when the perpetrators emerged from some bushes and took away from Nunes the ATV, 36 ounces of raw gold (worth $10.8M) and $290,000. The bandits then tied them up and escaped.
They were rescued by passers-by at about 2300 hours that day, the release said, adding that investigations are in progress.
Senior members of the force have over the years expressed concern at the rising incidents of miners being attacked in the interior, some of which have resulted in deaths. The present high price for gold has resulted in more persons flocking Guyana’s interior region.
Acting police commissioner Leroy Brumell earlier this year at the opening of a policing conference had expressed concern about the increasing incidence of crime in the interior. On that occasion he had said that a team of officers would focus on policing in the interior division and would also make recommendations for more effective management and control of the area.
