(Trinidad Guardian) Caribbean Airlines (CAL) says cocaine found aboard a flight which landed in Guyana over the weekend was stashed there by employees working on the ground at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. In a telephone interview yesterday, CAL’s corporate communications manager Clint Williams said, “CAL applauds the initiative by the security forces on the ground in Guyana who were able to detect the men—not CAL employees—attempting to place the drugs in the hold after the aircraft had arrived.” Saying Guyanese security officials were leading the investigation, Williams stressed, “We need to clarify that the drugs were not on the aircraft when it first arrived from Port-of -Spain.”
Unwilling to disclose any further information, Williams said the matter was currently under investigation. Shortly after midday on Sunday, flight BW 606, which was en route to Toronto, landed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. After an initial security sweep of the aircraft, the illegal substance was found during a second security check shortly after 1 pm. During this check, said to be standard operating procedure, officials discovered 2.2 kilogrammes of cocaine in the hold. Reports suggested four men were detained in connection with the discovery. But a security official at the Cheddi Jagan Airport was unable to confirm yesterday how many people had been arrested or if any charges had been laid. When contacted, a duty manager at the airport, who did not want to be identified, said, “I am not at liberty to comment.” However, he said this was not the first time that drugs had been discovered on flights after they arrived from Trinidad.
