Four Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) en-forcement officers were fired upon after confronting suspected chicken smugglers late Wednesday night at Dundee, Mahaicony.
One officer sustained pellet wounds about the body during the attack, the GRA said in a statement. The police are investigating the shooting but up to press time there was no report of anyone being arrested. When Stabroek News visited the area yesterday afternoon, hours after the shooting, four men were observed inside the yard where the shooting occurred unpacking frozen chicken into plastic bags. When questioned, the men said that they were unaware of the details of the shooting and refused to share their names. They all maintained that they did not live in the area.
The GRA said that its officers were fired upon by the suspected smuggler and three accomplices. Police said that they are seeking the known Mahaica-based businessman and a senior police official told Stabroek News that so far, checks have revealed that the man is not the holder of a firearm licence.
According to the information Stabroek News received, the officers were conducting the exercise at Dundee late Wednesday night when the businessman suddenly appeared. A police official said that there was a heated argument between the businessman and the officers. The businessman then opened fire and according to what this newspaper was told, the officers returned fire before fleeing the area.
The businessman, Stabroek News was told, has been smuggling chicken, liquor and other items from Suriname.
The GRA in its statement said that four officers of its Law Enforcement and Investigation Division (LEID) were conducting a surveillance exercise in the vicinity of Dundee, Mahaicony at around 11:25 pm on Wednesday and detained three minibuses containing 150 boxes of chicken that were suspected to have been smuggled into the country. A car, driven by the son of the suspected smuggler, was also detained. No papers could be provided for the chicken, the GRA said.
“It is alleged that shortly after the keys for the vehicles and the cellphones of the occupants were taken into custody that the suspected smuggler himself and three accomplices pulled up in a grey Toyota Allion motor vehicle, exited and opened fire in the direction of the LEID officials,” the GRA said.
“The officers were forced to retreat and take cover while the detainees escaped in several waiting motor vehicles. When the dust settled, the motor vehicle used by LEID officials to conduct the exercise was badly damaged `after being riddled with bullets, as well as two of the detained minibuses. One officer who was not so fortunate was injured about the body with pellets allegedly fired from a shotgun,” the statement said.
Stabroek News was told that the GRA officers were armed but were forced to retreat and take cover due to the superiority of the supposed smugglers’ guns. The GRA said that a number of spent shells, live rounds and warheads were reportedly recovered by police from the scene.
Residents told Stab-roek News that the shoot-out lasted for about 20 minutes.
According to one man, who asked not to be named, he was inside his home when he heard the loud noise of gunshots. Not long before, he said, he had noticed three minibuses filled with boxes of unknown goods.
Soon afterwards the exchange of bullets began. He added that he did not know where the businessman was at the time but believed the man had been locked inside of his home during the shoot-out.
Another resident, who also asked to remain anonymous, said that she realised something was amiss when she heard many raised voices. She also observed three minibuses, two parked inside the yard and one outside. She assumed that some of the men were officers of some kind due to their clothing.
She said that it seemed that the buses had been under surveillance because the officers arrived shortly after the buses were parked.
When the shots began, the woman and her family took cover. The shoot-out lasted for about 20 minutes, she said. “It was very horrifying,” she said. “It was like movie-style shooting…nothing like this ever happened in this area. Luckily, no one was killed.” She also believed that the businessman was locked inside of his home after hearing one GRA official ask, “Y’all can’t get that man out of that house?”
Police from the Cove and John Police Station eventually made their way to the scene.
The woman’s husband expressed disappointment at the way the situation was handled by the police. “The area should’ve been cordoned off after they realised something was going on,” he opined. “They lapsing and putting people’s lives at risk, there might’ve been more than chicken being smuggled.”
He explained that while the shooting was happening, vehicles were still travelling along the road. One resident of the area, who had peeped through a window when the shooting began, was grazed on the head by a stray bullet. His wife explained that he fainted due to the impact and is now recovering.
According to reports, the businessman’s suspected smuggling is no surprise. Some residents deemed him “notorious” and said that he was known by the law for previous criminal activities.
In the GRA statement, Commissioner-General of the GRA Khurshid Sattaur expressed concern at the great lengths smugglers are willing to go to ply their illegal trade.
