The Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) has confirmed that the vessel seized with a large amount of cocaine in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) last Thursday, is a Guyanese registered vessel.
Sources told Stabroek News that CANU’s port officer has handed over a file to the investigating officer and they are currently making checks to determine who the vessel is registered to and when it was last docked in Guyana.
The BVI Beacon yesterday reported BVI Police Information Officer, Akia Thomas, as saying that the vessel came to the BVI from Trinidad containing building materials. Multiple persons have been interviewed, the report stated, but police have not announced any arrests.
BVI News on Tuesday reported that the BVI’s local law enforcement agency made a seizure of 44.20 kilogrammes of cocaine from the vessel, Krautsand, in Purcell Estate, Tortola, on July 18.
The narcotic was found concealed among bags of cement. Three pallets containing 200 bags of cement were discovered and searched and 44.20 kilogrammes of cocaine were recovered and seized, BVI police said in a media release.
The discovery was the result of a joint operation between the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force and Her Majesty’s Customs.
According to shipspotting.com, an online community for ship photos and related topics, Krautsand, which is a general cargo vessel, flies a Guyana flag and Georgetown is listed as its home port.