Chief Constable, Andrew Foo, disclosed yesterday at a meeting with members of the media, that city constabulary officers discovered about 190 grammes of cannabis, after raiding sections of the Stabroek Market.
Following the report of a robbery, the constabulary officers went to the Stabroek Market, and while there, discovered a quantity of narcotics.
Inspector Petal Anthony-Bancroft, who is in charge of investigations, stated that around 14:30hrs on Tuesday, they received a report of a robbery in the Stabroek area. “Myself, with one other officer and 13 ranks, proceeded to the Stabroek area and conducted random stop and search within the area. We would have done checks under the canopy area of the Stabroek Market and in doing so, we would have unearthed several packets of leaves, stems and seeds suspected to be cannabis,” said Bancroft.
The inspector added that the packets were not found on persons, but were found tucked away. “So as we search, we find a black plastic bag— if you see a black plastic bag you pull it out and find some marijuana inside. You may see a food box and just think it’s an empty food box— when you open the food box, marijuana is in there…” she related.
Bancroft further stated that she took the packets, which were suspected to be narcotics, to the Guyana Police Force’s Eve Leary branch to have them weighed and tested.
“… over 150 packets were found and the total weight of it weighed 190 grammes and that was handed over to the narcotic department at Eve Leary,” she noted. Bancroft stated that continuous raids will be conducted within that area.
Foo also added that searches within the area are ongoing, as they would have had seven operations within the area in 2018. He added that the Guyana Police Force last Saturday carried out an operation within the Stabroek Market area, where stallholders were found with suspected drugs.
“Which means that stallholders apparently, or persons who are operating stalls, are part of this in terms of illegal trade and activity. It is something for the council to take note of and at the end, we would have to ensure that the level of comfort that these persons are enjoying, the agencies focus on that,” Foo stated.
The chief constable said that despite the police launching their large scale investigation last Saturday, persons were still comfortable to go back a few days later and continue the trade in that area. He added that because of that, the constabulary is expected to conduct more searches as the illegal trade has become more organised.
“These activities are organised, because you have persons with technology— WhatsApp, Messenger—communicating, so the fact is that when the police touch down within the area, persons are able to communicate and to ensure that they evade that cordon. So we are up against persons who are organised,” he related.
Foo noted that criminals within the area tend to target foreigners and persons who reside out of Georgetown, who would usually not have the time to pursue the matters before the courts.
Ten reports
Inspector Bancroft added that from January to date, they have received 10 reports of robberies within the Stabroek area, around the Plaisance bus park and along Regent Street. She further added that most of the persons who would have made those reports reside out of town. “So even though sometimes you get them to come and make the report, they do not follow up, so you won’t be able to get the matter to go before the court to get a conviction,” Bancroft stated.
According to Bancroft, for the year 2019 so far, the constabulary has taken three robbery matters before the courts, two of which are ongoing matters and the other having seen a conviction, where a man was sentenced to nine months in prison for robbery.
Foo added that he hopes that as the number of ranks within the constabulary increases, they would be able to better tackle the issue. “I think we are all aware that the constabulary, we are constrained and we’re short and therefore, the amount of persons, officers that we would like to have on the ground to be visible and to deter some of these activities, we don’t have it but as we increase our numbers, well then we expect that in terms of those areas that comes under the councils, control will be eliminated” Foo said.
