The captain and two crew members of the MV Delta Dies, bauxite ship which was busted with some 192.4 kilos of cocaine remained in custody yesterday as authorities continue to investigate the huge find.
Sources said that one other crew member was released yesterday, but it is not clear if he and the seven other crew members would be allowed to leave Guyana shortly. It is not clear also whether authorities in Guyana would take control of the Cyprus-registered vessel on which the cocaine was found or if it would be released. It is expected that charges would be laid shortly even as authorities rule out any local link to the cocaine since the ship would have entered Guyana with the illegal cargo on board and was headed to Europe.
The ship arrived in Guyana over the weekend and travelled to Linden where bauxite was loaded but it was under surveillance by local authorities who were tipped off by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC).
The drugs were in 185 packages or bricks, which were concealed under the pallets of a container on board the MV Delta Dies which was discovered by investigators of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit who were assisted by the Guyana Revenue Authority’s Law Enforcement and Investigation Division (LEID) and the Drug Examination Unit (DEU). The bust was made at the John Fernandes Wharf.
The ship had travelled from Suriname to Guyana and was scheduled to leave Guyana for Spain then to Holland and finally to Belgium.
