Local authorities have contacted their counterparts in the United States for assistance in locating the player/s in the shipment of a cache of guns and ammunition from Miami, which was intercepted here on Friday and has so far led to the arrest of one person.
The young man who is currently assisting police with their investigations was reportedly listed as the consignee but it would appear that he was simply doing someone “a favour” by agreeing to collect the box. Based on the information this newspaper has received, the man who hails from the upper East Coast Demerara area has revealed to the police the identity of the person he was collecting the box for.
Contacted yesterday Crime Chief Leslie James confirmed that no additional arrests have been made and said, “We have collaborated with the US.” No details were provided about what this collaboration entailed and whether the shipper has been identified and arrested.
Stabroek News was unable to ascertain from James whether any other local person has been linked to the discovery or if anything is known about the man in custody. It is still not known whether the discovery was based on intelligence or a random or routine check.
Repeated efforts yesterday to contact head of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur were futile as he kept disconnecting calls made to his cellular phone by this newspaper. It was Customs officials who made the discovery while checking the box at the GNIC wharf on Lombard Street.
At the moment, there is an ongoing inter-agency investigation involving the GRA and the ranks from the police CID Head-quarters, Eve Leary.
Police had said in a press release that at about 11:30 hrs “during the clearing of a cargo consignment at the GNIC Wharf by GRA Officials” a cache of arms and ammunition was found. The cache, according to the police, comprised 2 AK 47 Rifles, 4 40 pistols, 11 9mm pistols, 15 extra magazines for the firearms, 489 various calibre rounds for the firearms and a body protection vest.
A security source told this newspaper that there is information circulating which suggested that other shipments have passed undetected.
The source spoke of two containers which arrived in the country several weeks ago. The first was not inspected as per normal, the source said, adding that this raised concerns internally. When the second container came, it was also allowed to go unchecked and questions were raised as to why this was done. The source said that an explanation was given and when investigated it was ascertained to be false. The source questioned why weaponry would be sourced from the USA where there is a higher possibility of it being detected when guns can easily be brought from Brazil without being detected.
According to the source it would appear that there was confidence that it would be able to enter Guyana without detection and this points to collusion. Collusion, the source noted, would also be at the USA end as it would be “strange” that this amount of weaponry would make it pass customs officials in the USA where modern technology practices are used to scan packages being sent abroad.
The source said too that it might very well be that whatever arrangement was made to ensure that the consignee was able to uplift the box without a problem did not materialize. “Something had to have gone wrong,” the source said before adding that from his information the standard protocol of all barrels, boxes and parcels being checked by Customs officials is not always followed.
The source suggested that that Friday’s discovery might have been “a stroke of luck.”
There are reports that food stuff was packed on top of the weapons. According to the source, there are times when just a few layers of items are taken out resulting in the officer checking not emptying the box or barrel. He questioned why the Customs officer in this case opted to check the entire box while pointing out that given what has happened a conclusion can be drawn that a similar shipment had managed to slip detection previously.
