The Alliance for Change (AFC) has expressed alarm at what it sees as the prevalence of drug use in Guyana as well as the quantity of narcotics being interdicted by law enforcement.
The AFC in a press release on Friday noted what it described as “a surge in narcotics and ‘recreational’ drug use spreading in Guyana like wildfire.”
The release went on to highlight various drug busts across the country to bolster its claim.
Firstly, on March 14 at an abandoned house in Grove a large quantity of cannabis was discovered. Then on the same date, authorities destroyed two cannabis farms, spanning seven acres at Ebini backdam, Berbice River, and discovered four more cannabis farms totalling 5.5 acres with an estimated street value of $159,932,960 at the same location on March 7. And on March 3, a 34-year-old labourer from Ebini, Berbice River, was apprehended with some 1814 grams (four pounds) of marijuana.
Again, raids on separate farms at Ebini Backdam netted a total of 25,000 kg of cannabis plants. The first farm was approximately two acres in size, with plants ranging from two feet to six feet. Police reported 130 beds, each containing 68 plants – a total of 8,840 plants with an average weight of 19,448 kg and a value of more than $2.9 million. Just about 200 metres from the first farm, another farm was discovered, measuring some two acres as well. That farm had some 5000 plants, ranging from one to four feet in height, with an average weight of 5500kg and a value of $847,000. (March 4)
On Sunday, March 3, police seized 300 kilograms of foreign marijuana during an operation at Fisher Village, Essequibo Coast. Authorities determined that the marijuana was a foreign variety commonly known as ‘Creepy’, with a street value of $44,000,000. And on March 1, ranks from Regional Division Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) discovered 2020 grams of marijuana.
The release juxtaposed the aforementioned seizures with the fact that the calendar year is only halfway into March 2024, thus prompting the comment, “It is apparent that as sugar and sugarcane harvesting wanes, the new green gold has a pervasive, ubiquitous sprout.”
While the AFC congratulated law enforcement for their effort, it could not help but notice that for small quantities of marijuana, there is usually a name supplied, but for the acres of land being farmed, the owners are always unknown. The pattern appears to be consistent with cocaine busts as the release reminded that on November 5, 2020, Belgian authorities uncovered 11.5 tons of cocaine in a shipment from Guyana and on December 1, 2020, the Netherlands authorities discovered a ton of cocaine in rum from Guyana.
