The United States yesterday committed over $73 million more for the fight against drugs here even as it prepares to open a Drug Enforcement Administra-tion (DEA) office here.
“This project is designed to enhance the capability of Guyana to conduct counter-narcotics operations…the long term goal is to ensure the quality and integrity of personnel assigned to CANU [Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit] and to strengthen the investigative partnership between CANU and the DEA,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge said at the signing ceremony yesterday at the signing of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) ‘Letter of Amendment Three Point Two’ at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Letter of Amendment brings the total funds contributed by the US to Guyana under the CBSI to US$1.3M. The latest sum amounts to US$350,000 ($73.5M).
Greenidge thanked the US and said the funds will be used for advancing law enforcement activities aimed at enhancing the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Revenue Authority’s Customs Unit in their work at various ports of entry and borders.
US Ambassador Perry Holloway, who signed on behalf of Washington, stressed the importance of the programme. “These resources will play a critical role in training and equipping Guyana law enforcement agencies to enable them to expand their cooperative efforts to combat narcotics trafficking and to strengthen policing capabilities,” he said.
Holloway made it clear that the US is willing to assist in the fight against the narco-trade here but their involvement is based on government’s openness to their presence. He said Guyana has shown the commitment and has been a willing partner. “We can only provide to recipients who want that help,” he noted.
The last CBSI amendment was signed in July of this year. Then, Greenidge and US Chargé d’Affaires Bryan Hunt signed the document which provided US$50,000 to fund a number of projects that targeted not only narcotics trafficking and other illicit activities but also the prison system, judicial reform and the country’s forensic capability.
At the time, Hunt said that the David Granger administration has been clear in “its political commitment to taking the steps necessary to ensure that Guyanese law enforcement agencies are able to prevent this country from being used as a safe haven by international criminal elements.”
“It is for this reason that my government has decided to invest further in our collective law enforcement partnership, and I look forward to strengthening our cooperative relationship with Guyana’s law enforcement agencies,” he had told reporters.
Meanwhile, Holloway said that the DEA office is ready for operations and this can begin as soon as next month but definitely by January 2016.
He reiterated that the role of the DEA here would be in a technical assistance capacity, partnering with different law enforcement agencies as it aims to crack down on narco-trafficking and ultimately, crime.
