Police have launched an investigation into how the licensed firearm holder was allowed into the VIP lounge of the Cheddi Jagan Inter-national Airport, Timehri, while being in possession of nine rounds of ammunition, Minister of Transport Robeson Benn said yesterday.

The passenger, head of a state agency, was allowed to depart on a Caribbean Airlines flight after calls were made to a ministry official. The ammunition was confiscated.

Contacted yesterday, Benn told Stabroek News that he was made aware of the issue on Sunday and that the police had launched an investigation and he referred the newspaper to the police. However, efforts to contact Commander of ‘A’ Division, Leroy Brummell, proved to be futile and it is still unclear whether the man can face any charges.

Benn said that he is expected to receive a full report from the police on the issue at the end of today.

Meanwhile, pressed on whether he considered the fact that the man was able to pass through security scanners with the ammunition to be a major security breach the minister said, “Yes, I consider it to be a major security breach.”

This latest breach comes in wake of plans by the government to review the access to and the operations of the VIP and executive lounges at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, had said that among other things there might have been lapses that could have contributed to trafficking in narcotics.
Luncheon had the told the media at one of his weekly press conference that cabinet took a decision to review the operations of the lounges as there may have been lapses and when questioned he acknowledged that they may have contributed to the export of illegal drugs.

“The feeling is the weaknesses, the lack of coordination would provide, could have provided an opportunity for cocaine, aiding smuggling, all sorts of possibilities… the way in which the system was actually being managed, supervised; those weaknesses could have been exploited,” he had said.

According to Luncheon, over some time there had been reported “non-conformity with the established rules and procedures governing access and use, resulting in events that impinge on security, customs and immigration operations.”

He said heightened attention to revenue protection and security and in the context of the grade and licensing of airports by external agencies demanded a higher level of collaboration among the immigration, custom and the police. A report received by cabinet, Luncheon had said, suggested that there may have been some exploitation of the failure to adequately coordinate “and things are falling through the cracks”.