Commuters around Georgetown may have seen him – a young man, possibly in his early 20s, dressed in a dirty neon green t-shirt, neon green lens-less plastic eyewear and torn pants. His hair is thick and matted and he walks very quickly as though late for some event. It is possible that he is in the throes of a mental illness but more than likely too that he’s the victim of drug addiction.
On Monday morning in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, US-based Guyanese chef Darren Owen Harris pleaded guilty to having cocaine in his possession, which he was trying to take to the US for the purpose of trafficking. The cocaine was hidden in the handle of his suitcase and was found at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport as he was checking in to board his flight. He was sentenced to three years in jail and fined $30,000. The chef was travelling with his 19-year-old son, Darren Harris Jnr, who was also arrested. The chef tried in vain to clear his son of any wrongdoing, telling the court that the young man had no knowledge of the concealed cocaine and that he had done it on his own. However, in the afternoon, the teen was charged with drug trafficking and pleaded not guilty. His trial starts today, which also happens to be International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
June 26 was designated by the United Nations as the day for the annual observance of a resolution passed in 1987 following the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. It serves to remind UN member states of their agreement to a goal of achieving an international society free of drug abuse.
According to the resolution, the UN General Assembly recognized that the world drug problem continues to constitute a serious threat to public health, the safety and well-being of humanity, in particular young people, and the national security and sovereignty of states, and that it undermines socio-economic and political stability and sustainable development.
There are over 120 illicit drugs, which include some prescription medicines which are highly addictive and pose a real danger to humanity. The more commonly used ones include but are not limited to: cocaine and crack cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, heroin, hashish, PCP, Meth, Rohypnol (also called ‘roofies’ or the date rape drug) and opium.
The illicit drugs known to be used in Guyana are marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine and ecstasy; again this list is not exhaustive. Often, these drugs are used in combination with legal ones – alcohol and nicotine (cigarettes) – which are also highly addictive. A chat with any of the few drug addiction counsellors in this country would give a sense of how serious the usage problem is. In fact, in a recent interview, one counsellor expressed serious concern about the youth of some of his clients. A look around the streets, particularly in Georgetown gives a more graphic view of it. The number of persons rummaging in garbage bins and willing to do practically anything for a few hundred dollars to get their fix, is troubling. These are people who have hit rock bottom in their addictions but can’t afford the cost of rehabilitation. The majority of them are young. Unless there is some move to open public (free) rehabilitation centres, they face a dismal future.
Of all the drugs listed, only alcohol and now marijuana are indigenous to Guyana. The others are imported/smuggled in from other countries through our wide and porous borders with impunity. We say with impunity because there has not been a single seizure in recent history, say the last 20 years, of any quantity of drugs being smuggled in. However, the frequency with which Guyanese drug mules are caught, both here and overseas gives an indication of the massive quantities that are being brought in, particularly cocaine.
The trade is lucrative; it must be since so many people seem willing to risk prosecution and incarceration to fetch drugs out of Guyana. The popular consensus is that for every drug mule caught another two or three would have managed to slip by with their illegal cargo. This must be the case, since the seizures and concomitant losses do not seem to faze those importing the cocaine (otherwise known as the ‘big fish’) one bit. They just keep becoming more innovative. There have been attempts to smuggle drugs out of Guyana in false bottoms of shoes and suitcases, hidden on aircraft, in fruits, pepper sauce, women’s wigs/hair extensions, liquor, lumber, rice, fish and in the stomachs and body orifices of mules. No doubt, some of these methods have worked in the past.
Perhaps the establishment of an arm of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) here will serve to flush out and net the so-called big fish. Guyana’s status as a major transshipment point for drugs serves as a block to legal trade in some instances. It benefits only those in the big fish circle and leaves a stain on the country that is fast proving to be indelible.