After managing to elude law enforcers for almost two years, Farok Baksh, who was wanted by the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) for allegedly trafficking almost 325 pounds of cannabis and cocaine in a boat at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara in 2018, was arrested by the police on Friday.
Head of CANU Michael Atherly yesterday afternoon confirmed that Baksh, also known as ‘Dive and Shoot,’ was arrested around 2pm. He was subsequently handed over to CANU.
CANU, in a statement, had said that during an operation which was conducted in the wee hours of July 14, 2018, several locations along the East Coast seawall, which are used for the docking of fishing vessels, were reconnoitered.
Sometime around 4 am, the statement had said, a suspect fishing vessel was seen approaching a docking location in the Mon Repos channel and was intercepted. At the time, CANU had said two suspects were spotted in the boat. While Farok, who was the captain of the boat, escaped, another suspect, Azim Baksh, was detained.
A wanted bulletin was subsequently issued for Farok.
The men are said to be related. One of their wives was also detained for questioning but was subsequently released.
Days after the discovery, Azim was charged and remanded to prison.
In February, last year, Azim, a resident of Good Hope, also on the East Coast, was sentenced to five years imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of over $221 million after he was found guilty of the crime.
