On Wednesday, July 24th, the police conducted an early morning operation on Sandy Babb Street, Kitty during which they found 26 handguns and high-powered rifles and a large amount of ammunition.
Aside from the standard questions of ownership and to what use these weapons had been put or were to be put, the public would naturally ask why now? What is behind the timing of this find? Surely an arsenal of this magnitude could not have flown under the radar all this time. It had to have been known about. So, this operation on Wednesday was more than likely actioning of `intelligence’ that had long existed.
It also came on the heels of another stupendous discovery – a cache of arms found in a South Ruimveldt alleyway in a pink suitcase.
On July 16, the narcotics branch of the police force conducted an “intelligence-led” operation in South Ruimveldt which led to the discovery of the high-powered firearms – including two AR rifles and telescopic sights – ammunition and narcotics. In this case, the operation was interestingly led by a cadet officer.
These discoveries and others could be as a result of any number of things but possibly to immunize all of these weapons in the runup to elections preparations or to distract from the major corruption allegations buffeting the police force.
That said, the discoveries – particularly on Sandy Babb St – pose questions which the authorities have a responsibility to answer and where necessary they must seek external assistance.
Who owns this cache? It was likely being stored for the heavily-armed groups that still surface from time to time with high-octane discharges of firearms and execution-style killings only to retreat into the shadowy background, never to be found. Six persons were taken into custody on Wednesday and presumably various charges are coming against them though they are unlikely to be the masterminds.
It is really now for the police to try to work their way back to the source and controller of these weapons. Can they do it? If that question was posed to the public it would evoke all manner of insults towards the police. The public has little confidence that the corruption-challenged police can properly investigate this find. Surely, external help could be a great fillip to this investigation though the government is never thus inclined as the risks for it are too high.
However, it does desperately need assistance in this matter. All of those weapons – 26 of them- must be subjected to the most careful ballistic examination to determine if they could be matched with crime scenes. There was a time when the Guyana Police Force (GPF) referred to ballistic tests and whether there could a link between a firearm and a crime scene. Not anymore. However, in this case, it behoves the government to make every effort to determine whether these guns have been utilized in major crimes.
This a task that surely cannot be undertaken by the police force as presently constituted considering resource constraints and the dense shadow of corruption. If the Minister of Home Affairs and the government are serious about determining the provenance of these weapons and their history they will look elsewhere and not at the GPF.
Indeed, the GPF and the border control authorities already stand indicted over their failure to stanch the arrival of these weapons into country. These may be only the tip of the iceberg given the frequent discovery of illicit arms. Are these weapons coming in barrels – there had been several such attempts in the past – or are they coming through the airports or unsanctioned crossings along the Corentyne and Takutu rivers or from the north west?
Whatever the answer, the authorities are clearly not on top of the problem and public safety is at great risk.
There is one other major thread running through the Sandy Babb St find and that is the Fagundes connection. The weapons were found at the house where Ricardo Fagundes lived before he was cut down in a hail of gunfire outside of Palm Court in March of 2021. That killing remains unsolved to this day and has become commingled with all sorts of allegations of vendetta and police coverups. Mr Fagundes’ killing was of the kind that undermined public safety and law and order. This arms finds at the premises where he once lived enables a natural reopening of the probe into his killing and all of its unsavoury connections. Except that this is a matter that cannot properly be investigated by the police force. As Commander-in-Chief, will President Ali seize the moment and entrust these matters to a capable law enforcement probe?
