As the probe continues locally, following the discovery of over three tons of cocaine on two vessels, one in Ireland and another in Spain, the Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), James Singh says that the owner of one vessel is cooperating with the local authorities and has given a statement, while the other vessel never docked here.
The vessels he was referring to are the bulk cargo vessel, “MV Matthew”, which was caught by Irish authorities with some 2.2 tons of cocaine, and the fishing vessel “Mathieu”, which was found with one ton of cocaine by Spanish authorities.
“Yes, the owner of ‘Mathieu’ gave a statement and is cooperating with CANU… the vessel ‘Matthew’ never came to Guyana, it only sailed within our waters in its journey to Ireland. It never docked in Guyana, there are no links between this vessel and Guyana. ‘Matthew’, which was held in Ireland never docked in Guyana. It was in our international waters,” Singh said when Stabroek News contacted him on the status of the investigation. Stabroek News over the weekend broke the news that four Guyanese and two Albanians were arrested after they were found on a Guyanese-registered boat containing one ton of cocaine, prompting local authorities to launch an investigation in Guyana
It was explained that the fishing vessel “Mathieu” was spotted without a flag in the Atlantic some 1,100 kilometres off Cape Verde and according to a release from the Tax Agency of Spain, its Customs Surveillance Service in a joint operation with the National Police and the Portuguese Police intercepted the vessel with its cocaine cargo. Patrol boat “Fulmar” then towed it to the port of Arrecife in Lanzarote, where it was unloaded.
“The operation was carried out in collaboration with the American agency DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and the Spanish Navy. The six crew members of the vessel were arrested…,” the Spanish release said.
According to the release, the bust was as a result of the existing international channels for the fight against drug trafficking, through which information was received from the US agency. The information alerted to the existence of an international criminal organisation that would seek to carry out the transfer of a large amount of cocaine from one vessel to another at sea.
It disclosed that after receiving the information the National Police coordinated with Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency to find the point where the vessel was located. The interception was finally carried out by the “Fulmar” in the Atlantic, 600 miles from Cape Verde.
“From here, the authorities of Guyana were asked to confirm the registration of this vessel in their country and to authorise its transfer to the nearest Spanish port,” the release disclosed.
When the vessel was searched, the agents found 40 bundles of pellets that are normally used for the transfer of the cocaine hydrochloride on the stern cover. The six crew members were arrested and were transferred onboard the “Fulmar.”
While they were unloading the boat, 40 large bales of cocaine were discovered hidden under the deck. In total, the cocaine weighed 1,000 kilos.
In the case in Ireland, the BBC reported that two men had last week appeared in court in connection with the seizure of a large amount of cocaine off Cork, the southern coast of the Republic of Ireland.
The drugs, which Gardaí (Irish police) said have an estimated street value of €150 million, were taken from a bulk cargo ship off County Cork on Wednesday.
“In court were Jamie Harbron, 31, with an address of South Avenue, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, England, and 60-year-old Vitaliy Lapa of no fixed abode, but originally from Ukraine. The pair appeared at a special sitting of Waterford District Court on Friday evening.
Gardaí said the seizure was the largest in the history of the Irish state. Both men are charged with conspiracy to import drugs,” the BBC reported.
Neither made any reply when charged. They were remanded in custody to appear before Wexford District Court, via video link, sometime today.
The BBC said that the two men were arrested after being “winched to safety from a trawler off the Wexford coast after the vessel ran aground on a sandbank on Sunday night.”
It also related that their appearance in court arose from “an ongoing major investigation into illegal drug smuggling, focusing this week on the activities of the MV Matthew cargo ship.”
The Panamanian-registered bulk carrier, which left South America last month, was intercepted and escorted to port in Cork on Tuesday by an Irish joint task force which included Gardaí, the naval service, army rangers and revenue and customs staff.
The BBC said that five other men also arrested in connection with the operation remain in custody.
