-passed through Timehri undetected
Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri security officials are now facing serious questions about how the head of a state agency was allowed on a departing Caribbean Airlines flight with ammunition in his possession.

Initial reports received by this newspaper on Sunday had indicated that the ammunition was found on the man at the local airport but acting Commissioner of Police Henry Greene yesterday told Stabroek News that it was discovered in the VIP Lounge at the Piarco Airport, in Trinidad. He said that the man was found with the ammunition, 12 rounds in number, and his gun magazine.

Greene explained that he received a call on Sunday from Trinidad informing him of the find and questions were being asked as to how the man, who is a licensed firearm holder, was allowed to leave Guyana with the items. He said that he has since ordered an investigation into how the man was allowed to clear security with the items. He admitted that it was a serious security breach.

It however does not seem as if any charges would be laid since Greene described the incident as a “genuine mistake” on the part of the man who had in fact lodged his firearm at the Timehri airport but apparently forgot about the ammunition and magazine. He said it is not clear whether the items were found in the man’s suitcase or hand luggage but all of these things would be ascertained following the investigation.

Questions have now been raised on how the man would have passed the security scanner at Timehri without the ammunition and magazine being detected. Greene yesterday said that the items “should have been picked up” by the security personnel at the airport.
After a ministry official was contacted in Guyana the Trinidadian authorities allowed the man to continue on his journey.

The latest lapse by security personnel at the airport seems to give weight to the words of Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, who late last month told the media that the government plans to review access to the VIP executive lounges at the airport since, among other things, there might have been breaches that could have contributed to the trafficking of narcotics.

He had said that a report received by cabinet had suggested that there may have been some exploitation of the failure to adequately coordinate “and things are falling through the cracks.”