Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) James Singh has revealed that over 75 kilogrammes of cocaine and approximately 1.1 tonnes of marijuana have been seized thus far this year during the agency’s drug bust operations.
Speaking on Monday last during a sideline interview with the media at an event held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, he said that of the 1.1 tonnes of marijuana, 90 per cent came from the Andean region (countries like Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile).
Responding to reporters about allegations of CANU not following standard operating procedures (SOP) when searching for illicit drugs, especially on someone’s personal property, he said that the CANU officers “once time permits” are required to have a search warrant when conducting narcotics or drug bust operations.
“When time permits we would get a search warrant but as you are aware sometimes our operations are current or at the spur of the moment, and acting on information someone may be called in, or based on surveillance the suspect is moving a large number of drugs either by boat and we have to act right away,” he said.
“When we go into those locations, our officers have body cameras even to the point where you have extra persons using their cellphones to search and there is a declaration which the occupant is required to sign stating that nothing was taken or confiscated, or no one was abused.
“It is alarming to hear allegations such as CANU officers stole this or we took that when the body cameras show us searching the premises while you are present. It is not like we keep persons outside, we want you to walk with us so that in the event of us finding something illegal, you will be held accountable.”
Asked if there were any instances where a suspect had refused to allow CANU to search his or her premises, Singh said that if an individual operated in such a manner it therefore means that he or she has something that they are hiding which poses suspicion.
According to the CANU Head, there are rare cases where suspects don’t cooperate with the unit’s officers during drug search operations.
“If there is a delay it means that the suspect is trying to hide something. Rarely, someone would loose their dogs instead of locking them up. We know of ploys that persons use to hide or flush the drugs. We let them know that if they prevent us from searching their premises it may result in forced entry, but that rarely happens because we don’t want to destroy someone’s personal property,” he added..
Singh was also questioned on the SOPs for an arrested suspect whose information may be disseminated in the media (as to why he was arrested, his details etc.).
In response to this, he said, “When someone is even arrested by standard there is an indication that we will charge that person, so the information will be released publicly. It does two things, if I conduct an operation in someone’s home and say that there is a large number of drugs but CANU doesn’t do a release it lends to the idea of suspicion, or conspiracy. At the end of the day we have to be transparent, we don’t want to embarrass anybody but if we find a large amount of drugs in your home, we are going to process you and publish the information so that the press can see that we are transparent.”
Singh said sometimes the suspect may cooperate with CANU’s officials and the body decides that it will defer the charges depending on the gravity of the situation.
The CANU Official made it clear this doesn’t mean that if the suspect is found culpable or indeed had large sums of narcotics in his or her possession they would not be charged.
As it relates to the photographs of suspects and seized narcotics which are disseminated in the media, Singh said that these images are watermarked by the anti-narcotics unit but there were instances where photos were shared inadvertently or “leaked”.
The CANU Head noted that there is no problem if his ranks take photos of the drug bust operations as proof of their efficiency but these photos must be marked to avoid chances of misuse or manipulation.
He said that suspects are not allowed to take photos of CANU officers during drug search operations at their private residences, nor are suspects allowed to post these photos on social media as they are endangering the lives of the unit’s personnel.
However, an occupant is allowed to take photos or videos of their personal property, as a way of ensuring that no item was destroyed nor confiscated during a drug search operation.
