Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) officers on patrol duty on Wednesday, acting on intelligence received, intercepted a vehicle in Central Lethem with Brazilian registration plates and found two firearms.
A Guyana Police Force (GPF) release stated that on Wednesday at about 12.45 hours, CANU officers on patrol duties in Lethem, intercepted a white motor vehicle with Brazilian licence plates – QUM 2E64 – which was parked in front of Takatu Hotel, Central Lethem.
CANU officers approached the vehicle and saw a man subsequently identified as Paulo Cezar Buckley Da Silva, a 36-year-old labourer, of Boa Vista, Brazil, sitting in the driver seat, while a woman, subsequently identified as Lorissa Soares Garcia Rodrigues, a 23-year-old hairdresser of Boa Vista, Brazil, was sitting in the rear passenger seat.
The officers identified themselves to the driver before cautioning him that they were in receipt of information that illegal items were in the car. When the officers requested permission to conduct a search, both the occupants exited the car. A search of Da Silva yielded no illegal items, however, a search of the vehicle uncovered a black .38 special revolver without ammunition under the driver’s seat, and a green rifle without ammunition was located beneath the rear passenger seat. Both suspects when questioned about whether they were in possession of firearm licences, nodded their heads in the negative.
They were both arrested and escorted to the Lethem Police Station where the woman was searched by a female police rank but nothing illegal was found. The two suspects were further questioned in the presence of a police translator where Da Silva then claimed under caution that he brought the two firearms from Brazil hoping to sell them in Lethem.
The firearms were processed and lodged along with the car. The two suspects were then placed into custody pending investigations.
