It has been more than one week since the file on the investigations into the cocaine found in a container registered to the Guyana Timber Products Inc was sent to the chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), but advice on charges is still to be made.
Stabroek News was told that this lengthy delay is due to the large number of statements contained in the file and the complexity of the case. This newspaper was told that the file could be sent back to the Customs and Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) before the end of the week. The file was sent to the DPP, two Fridays ago.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee told reporters following the opening of the Police Officers Annual Conference last Thursday that he had spoken to CANU boss James Singh the previous day and he had said that the entity was continuing its investigation in collaboration with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).
“From my own view what takes time with these things is to make sure that when you take the matter to court [you] don’t look foolish,” he said while stressing that a proper investigation needed to be done in order to send a proper file to the DPP.
Asked about the institution of charges, he told reporters that CANU could not institute the charges unless the DPP advised them to. “The DPP is always sending back files asking for more information because she would like to ensure also that when she advises on what charges to prosecute, she is doing the right thing too,” Rohee said.
He added that the suspects who were detained are “out on bail and I think they know who the prime suspects are”. Initially four men, including a Dutch national, were held. One of the men, a forklift operator, was released hours later while the Dutchman was released two nights later after his lawyer filed Habeas Corpus proceedings in the High Court. The other two persons were released the following day.
Meanwhile, when quizzed on whether mechanisms were in place to ensure suspects do not flee the country, Rohee said, “We will hope that they don’t flee and we know that there are mechanisms in place but you know Guyanese are very creative people, very innovative so we just have to hope for the best and hope that it doesn’t take too much time before it is dealt with the courts.”
Based on reports reaching Stabroek News, the cocaine was packed into the logs at the company’s Lot 80 Soesdyke Public Road operations base. It was later ascertained that the logs contained a total of 314 parcels of cocaine with a total weight of 359.8 kilogrammes. After being packed, the logs were placed in a container and then transported to a city wharf for shipping to Holland.
According to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), on January 21, a shipment of seven containers was inspected and certified by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and issued with the relevant certifications by the agency.
Subsequently, the necessary paperwork was submitted to the GRA for the shipment of the containers.
But on January 30, while the containers were being scanned, anomalies were observed and three containers were determined necessary for a secondary examination.
The images that were observed were not in keeping with the information that was contained in one of the shipping forms.
Among the contents of one of the containers were blocks of hardwood.
Officials of the GRA’s Drug Enforcement Unit also noted that there were discrepancies in the physical content and colour coding of some of the logs and after it was confirmed that those were the logs that presented the anomalies, instructions were given for one of the logs to be drilled, the GRA said. It was at this point that cocaine was found.
Intelligence is key
Meanwhile a security expert told Stabroek News that the investigation is not a difficult investigation but a painstaking one.
“Remember, possession (both actual and constructive) would become a significant issue to aid investigators to build a successful case,” the source said adding that it is always difficult to prove possession when the item in contention is not found on someone.
According to the source, “where it was found in an area under the control of the principals, then, you have to prove they had knowledge of the contents of the container and the existence of illicit items among what is supposed to be legitimate business. This is the challenge for investigators.”
The source stressed that intelligence is key for investors. “Where were the logs cut, stored and loaded? Who examined them? Were they subject to inspection by officials from Forestry Commission and GRA at any stage? Who were the employees at every stage?” the source queried, making specific reference to the Soesdyke cocaine bust.
It was explained that all employees needed to be questioned in great detail. “The low level operators are many and it would be useful to determine whether the stashing was done by regular employees or a special group…,” the source pointed out.
The issue of stashing is very complex, the source said adding that “finding the stash is one thing but putting the case together to prove possession [by] the culprit(s) requires hard work, hence, the need for good intelligence.”
The source opined that it would have been better for the authorities to allow the drugs to leave Guyana and then pass that intelligence on to their ‘contacts’. “That would have been a different issue if the bust was to be made in another territory with the resources to investigate and prosecute,” the source said.
The source told Stabroek News that this would be seen as a large quantity of drugs in any part of the world which no ordinary trafficker would have access to. “In the underworld someone has to pay for it and that someone has loads of cash floating around with access to certain very important individuals,” the source said, adding that “the will to investigate doggedly and to prosecute has to suffer under the weight of the inducement available”.
