GUYANA-CANU heads say Venezuela is the source of drugs in Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Director of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), James Singh, said Tuesday that Guyana is a transshipment point for illegal drugs that originate from Venezuela and are exported to other parts of the world, including North America, West Africa, and Europe.

“In the past, we’ve seen drugs enter Guyana and then transship through Guyana, through the Caribbean basin, towards North America. Recently, there’s been a shift. Now drugs are still coming into Guyana and then transshipped towards West Africa and Europe,” Singh said on the state-sponsored “Safeguarding Our Nation” programme.

He told viewers that because of Guyana’s geographical location, it is caught between suppliers of drugs in the region and consumers on other continents.

“As a result of law enforcement presence and patrolling within the Caribbean basin, that has somewhat deterred traffickers and posed more of a risk to them. So, what traffickers do is look for the path of least resistance. Coupled with the fact that there’s a greater demand in Europe, there are better prices in Europe and less risk. It’s just across the Atlantic. We’ve seen traffickers now take advantage of that,” Singh said.

The CANU director said the majority of drugs come into Guyana from Venezuela and that “it doesn’t help that it’s a narco-state and claims two-thirds of our territory, but it comes from Venezuela by plane or by boat to be further transshipped.

“Some is remaining here, and as I said, some is transshipped, the majority being transshipped to other territories,” he said, adding that drug traffickers were becoming more creative in how they move the illicit substances.

“We’re seeing low-flying aircraft coming into our territory. We’re seeing maritime vessels coming. We’re seeing the contamination of containers after they’ve left Guyana, as well as the construction of low-profile ships, not to mention semi-submersibles.

“There are new methods of concealment. No longer are persons trying to hide cocaine in wood or in fish, but what they’re doing now is contaminating commercial shipments after they would have been scanned, after they would have been checked by law enforcement, and contaminating them at transshipment points.

“Again, after they’ve left Guyana, we’re also seeing them load vessels off the coast. So, a vessel comes in, it has legitimate cargo, but then it travels outside of Guyana and our territorial waters and they load narcotics on board,” Singh added.

He said that, as a result, law enforcement agencies must similarly evolve. CANU is employing more technology in its operations, strengthening partnerships with international partners, and maintaining good relations with the public.

“We’re working through informants, undercover operations, sharing of information again from our colleagues overseas, as well as working with various communities, the public. The public plays a vital role in intelligence sharing. It’s one of our greatest partners.”

Singh also pointed to CANU’s and Guyana’s strong relations with countries in the region and further afield, such as the US and Canada.

“Recently, we formed new partnerships within South America with our Brazilian counterparts, our Colombian counterparts, our Surinamese,” he said, noting that “these partnerships are not just for training, but joint operations, sharing of information”.

In addition, CANU is also part of several multinational law enforcement working groups.

On technology, Singh noted that the organisation has acquired scanners and other bits of technical equipment to help identify some of the new concealment methods.

Meanwhile, another challenge in the fight against the drug trade is the emergence of new drugs such as ecstasy and foreign marijuana.

“This is marijuana with a higher THC content coming from North America, Colombia, Venezuela, as well as Thailand, coming into Guyana and then going to other parts of South America,” Singh said, adding that another challenge is the presence of foreign members of drug trafficking organisations trying to embed themselves in Guyana.

“Recently, we’ve seen numerous foreign members held alongside Guyanese outside of Guyana with large amounts of cocaine. Again, this is an indication that they’re trying to establish somewhat of a presence here,” Singh said, noting that, notwithstanding the challenges, CANU is committed to the fight against the drug trade.

“We’re trying to ensure that Guyana does not become a haven, does not become a narco-State, that drug trafficking organisations see here as a bad place to do business, because of two reasons: CANU’s zeal to fight drugs, but also government’s commitment in ensuring that Guyana does not become a narco-State or its citizens feel threatened by the narcotics trade,” he told the programme.

Singh’s appearance on the programme comes a few days after CANU confirmed credible death threats against him from an international criminal network.

But Singh said he is not perturbed.

“We will not be intimidated. This is proof that our operations are working. We are being taken seriously, and that is exactly the message we want to send.”