Following the interception of a container of its rum with over 1,100 pounds of cocaine in the Netherlands, the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) on Saturday said it is convinced the shipment was not contaminated here.
In a statement, DDL said it is concerned about international shipping routes which necessitate transshipment through certain other countries and expressed its hope that more effective security and detection measures would be implemented.
While noting that it is committed to protection of of its unblemished image and that of its supply chain, DL stated that the discovery was made by a staff of its contracted bonded warehouse who, immediately called in the relevant law enforcement agencies in the Netherlands. After being informed, the company said it took the necessary steps to inform the Guyana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) Customs officials. The Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) was subsequently informed by both the Netherlands authorities and the GRA.
“DDL is convinced that the various checks and balances executed in Guyana, including its own security mechanisms employed during the stuffing of containers with its product at its Diamond plant, would have detected any illegal substances,” the statement added.
According to the company, it remains committed to ensuring that its reputable image and that of its internationally acclaimed Demerara brands of rum, which only recently has won Geographic Indication (GI) recognition in Europe, is never compromised.
DDL voiced its hopes that more effective security and detection measures would be implemented so as to prevent contamination of shipments that threaten the credibility of reputable companies and their products which earn significant foreign exchange for the nation.
On Friday GRA said in a statement that “rigid” controls are in place to prevent the exports of narcotics through Guyana’s ports.
The consignment, which originated in Guyana, was scanned in Guyana according to the stipulated procedures, and no contraband or prohibited/restricted substances were detected among the cargo when scanned. It said the consignment was shipped to the Netherlands and transited to another Caribbean territory, where it was offloaded and remained for a period before it was loaded onto another vessel destined for the Netherlands, where the discovery was made.
Against this background, the GRA said through joint enforcement and intelligence activities with CANU and other local and foreign law enforcement bodies have put in place a system of rigid controls thereby reducing the probability of narcotic substances being exported or transshipped through Guyana’s ports. “This process allows for simultaneous viewing of the scanned images by officers of the sister agencies, and backup checks thereafter prior to shipping,” it added.
The GRA further said such images are stored and backed up at various sites, thereby reducing the likelihood of a repeat of the deletion of images as occurred in connection with a previous case where cocaine was found in a shipment that originated from Guyana.
The anti-narcotic monitoring agency on the night of the discovery said that its preliminary findings concluded that the container was indeed loaded and shipped from Guyana but checks have shown that before departure had revealed no contraband items.
“The current measures in place ensure that containers departing the country are scanned. In addition, a physical examination is done when required based on several parameters. The container in question was scanned by the relevant law enforcement agencies, prior to departure and there were no contraband items concealed among the documented cargo.
“After the container was scanned, it was transported to a city wharf where it was stored in a secure area awaiting departure. Prior to departure as per standard operations procedure, a physical check would have been done to ensure that both the line and custom seals were intact and there was no sign of tampering”.
CANU said that after departing Guyana, the container transited another Caribbean territory where it was offloaded and remained for a period of five days before it was loaded onto another vessel and shipped to the Netherlands where the discovery was made.
“The law enforcement authorities remain committed to working together to ensure that narcotics are not transshipped through our ports. Several initiatives have been put in place to prevent this from occurring along with the creation of several multi agency units tasked with implementing and enforcing the new security measures. CANU is also working with several local companies to assist in strengthening their security protocols at the various ports – air and sea, to ensure that their businesses are not used to facilitate the movement of narcotics and other contraband”, CANU said.
