A man was arrested yesterday when he went to the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) to uplift a parcel from Jamaica which contained 822 grammes of cocaine in several bottles of cocoa butter lotion.

The man is in custody and CANU said he is likely to be taken to court before the end of the week.

The man, a Castello Housing Scheme resident, said he knew nothing about the drugs, and that a friend in Jamaica had sent the parcel to him. CANU noted that this was not the first time someone had tried to smuggle the illegal drug in this manner.

Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday an official of the drug enforcement unit said that yesterday morning the young man went to the GPOC main branch on Robb Street to uplift the box. However, when the parcel went through the screening process by CANU it was detected that the bottles had more than just lotion. A subsequent search of the bottles revealed that cocaine was wrapped in white paper and stuffed into the bottles and then sealed. The cocaine was weighed and it amounted to 822 grammes. A small quantity of ganja was also discovered in the box.

Yesterday’s bust came one day after a bigger find at Lot 1 Princes Street, Charlestown where a quantity of cocaine, ganja, ecstasy and counterfeit currency were discovered. One man was arrested and is currently assisting CANU officers in their investigations.

Among the items found at the Princes Street home were three parcels of ganja totalling over 100 grammes, a similar amount of cocaine, over 100 ecstasy tablets and a quantity of counterfeit and genuine cash. The lawmen also found a number of toothpaste tubes with the bottoms cut off. A CANU rank said drug smugglers would usually cut the tubes and stuff cocaine in them before closing them up back. The rank said CANU had intercepted persons already who had tried to traffic in cocaine in that manner. The CANU ranks had also found two other sets of tablets, but the man said he had collected those during the 2005 flood.