With gold smuggling rampant, the Guyana government might reopen the Curaçao gold heist investigation after it studies a report on the three-year-old incident where over 450 pounds of gold was stolen from a Guyana-registered vessel.
“Certainly it is something which the president spoke about and he is concerned about it. Any time the country haemorrhages in that way it is something we must have serious concerns about…We will do some further inquiries to see what will happen,” Minister of State Joseph Harmon told Stabroek News.
In November 2012, the Summer Bliss was raided by armed gunmen, moments after it moored in Curaçao. They took 476 pounds of gold, which fuelled speculation that the gold might have been smuggled from Guyana.
From the inception, observers had pointed out that the crew members were pivotal to the investigation into the origin of the gold but the government here seemed uninterested in gaining access to them. The boat was last seen in Guyana’s waters prior to the heist.
President David Granger, speaking at the official commissioning of the Canadian owned Aroroa Gold Mine last week, had expressed concern about gold smugglers who effectively rob the country of taxes and royalties.
Although a team was sent to the Dutch island by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to conduct investigations into whether the gold originated from Guyana, no new information was forthcoming from that visit.
On January 24, 2013, the then Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud told Stabroek News that the report of the GGMC officers provided no new insight and that the team was not able to find the Guyanese crew members. The matter was now in the hands of local law enforcement authorities, he said.
Persaud had said that determining the origin of the gold was a herculean task for his ministry as no one had come forward to claim the gold. He continued to maintain up to the time of his departure from office, that no one had come forward to claim the gold and that there was “nothing new” to report.
Harmon explained while he knows the report was submitted to the last administration, his government has not seen it. He said that Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman will be tasked with obtaining the report for analysis. “My understanding is that a report was presented to President Ramotar and Robert Persaud. The question is what did they do with that information?…Remember we had sent some investigators…and police too to that country.”
“I will ask Minister Trotman to see whether there is anything at the department of Natural Resources,” he added.”
Meanwhile the investigation at the Curaçao end is stalled as authorities there still cannot find the Guyanese crew.
