The cargo ship on which a container with 192.4 kilos of cocaine was recently found recently left Guyana with its crew after a fine was paid to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), according to James Singh, head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).
CANU, Guyana’s main drug fighting body was instrumental in the multi-million-dollar cocaine haul. CANU has confiscated the drugs.
It is believed that Guyana was used as a transshipment point to get the drugs which were carefully concealed in a container aboard the MV Delta Dies, to either Spain, Holland or Belgium. After departing Guyana, the ship was expected to dock in these three countries.
There was insufficient evidence to link the crew to the drugs and as such no charges were laid against them. The captain and two of his crew members had been held after the discovery of the narcotics and were confined to the ship.
James, when contacted yesterday, said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) recommended no charges. A file on the case was sent to the DPP’s Chambers last week.
According to James, given the recommendation the crew were released. He said the ship subsequently departed Guyana after paying a fine to GRA. He stressed that the releasing of the vessel and the payment of the fine were decisions taken by the GRA.
Despite numerous efforts, Stabroek News could not ascertain when the vessel left or the sum of the fine. GRA head Khurshid Sattaur could not be contacted.
Sattaur had previously told this newspaper that while there was a number of things outlined in the Act as it relates to seizure and forfeiture of a vessel on which drugs are found, there are also provisions for the paying of a fine. He had said that revenue officials were in talks with the management of the vessel to reach a settlement, while noting that this decision was made after taking a number of things into consideration including the fact that the persons on the vessel had no knowledge that the drugs were there and the legal backlashes they might face.
Meanwhile, James indicated that the investigation is still ongoing in collaboration with CANU’s counterparts in neighbouring Suriname, which was the vessel’s last stop before travelling to Guyana.
The vessel arrived in Guyana during the first weekend of the New Year and sailed to Linden, where bauxite was loaded. Since its arrival it had been under surveillance by local authorities, who were tipped off by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC).
The drugs which were worth an estimated $800 million were packed in 185 packages or bricks, which were concealed under the pallets of a container aboard the vessel. The discovery was made by CANU investigators with assistance from GRA’s Law Enforcement and Investigation Division and the Drug Examination Unit.
The police also provided some assistance.
