The cocaine that was found disguised as “Gold Finger” candy may have been destined for an overseas location but somehow ended up in a shop in White Water, North West District, where it was bought and consumed by three children, according to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud.
Updating the media on the investigation following the launch of this year’s Christmas Policing Plan on Monday, Persaud said that two persons are on bail as investigations continue into the discovery.
He explained that the drug was found was not hidden in the candy as was being reported in the media but rather it was only wrapped with the Gold Finger wrapped. “They removed the sweets, put cocaine in packages and make it to resemble sweets and then used the wrapper to wrap them,” he said. “Clearly I can say that it was not intended for the North West. I want to believe that it was intended for some place overseas,” Persaud added.
Asked whether this was a regular occurrence with this brand of sweet, he said that there is no evidence to support such a conclusion and he pointed out that police have in the past found cocaine sealed in various items, including fish and lumber. “So it is not unusual to find a concealment method that hasn’t been used before,” he stressed.
He was unable to say how much cocaine was seized by the police but noted that it was way below one kilogramme.
Twos Sundays ago, three White Water girls were sent to a shop to make some purchases and among the things they bought were $80 worth of Gold Finger sweets.
One of the girls, who is 11 years, first bit into what she thought was a sweet and realised that it tasted bitter and had a funny smell. She then asked her companions, both 13-years-old, to taste the sham sweet. Shortly after, their tongues began to feel numb and they felt weak. They later lost consciousness on their way to the Mabaruma Hospital.
A report was then made to the police, who visited the shop and found as much as much as 80 packets of suspected cocaine concealed in the Gold Finger wrappers. The shop owner was arrested and the items transferred to Georgetown, where laboratory tests confirmed the presence of cocaine.
In addition to the shop owner, a Kumaka businesswoman who sold the shop owner the sweets was also detained. They were both transferred to the city for further questioning.
Toshao Ernice Samuels had told Stabroek News that to the best of his knowledge this was the first time there was the presence of cocaine in the community. He has urged the police to try to ascertain the origin of the cocaine.
Samuels has also since advised villagers to be careful of what they buy as no one know what else is being used to conceal drugs.
It is believed that the drugs were smuggled over from neighbouring Venezuela and the concealment was done here. White Water is very close to the border and it is suspected that illegal items are moved freely across.
