US DEA tipped off by Canada

A second major drug shipment is being traced back to Guyana after US federal agents on Wednesday seized 100 kilos of cocaine found inside pepper sauce cartons aboard a ship in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

A day after announcing one of the largest drug busts in Ontario’s history, Durham police working with the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) tipped off the U.S Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to the second shipment, which was stopped in St Croix.

Like in the first shipment, the drugs were hidden in cardboard dividers in 139 boxes of food-seasoning products that were destined for Caribbean International Food Distributors, based in Etobicoke.

The drugs were found after DEA agents raided the ship. Canadian law enforcement officials say more arrests are likely.

According to the Canadian press, the busts are part of a major anti-narcotics initiative dubbed “Project Falcon,” which sought to identify the sources of the criminal network that transported cocaine to street gang members and drug abusers in the Durham region.

On December 8, officers found 276 kilos of high-quality cocaine at the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick, aboard a ship, Tropic Canada. With Wednesday’s net, the total amount of cocaine seized as a result of the investigation is 376 kilos, with an estimated street value of $54.5 million.

According to the Toronto Star, the drugs were traced back to Guyana, from where the padded freight containers shipped out. The Star reported investigators as saying that the vessel in New Brunswick was confirmed to have been carrying 77-79 per cent pure cocaine, which was found inside boxes of hot sauce. They removed all but two kilos of the cocaine and performed a controlled delivery of the container to its original destination in Etobicoke. It was received by the owner of the company, Mahendrapaul Doodnauth, who unloaded the boxes at a rented storage facility on Rexdale Boulevard in Toronto. As a result, Doodnauth, of Toronto, was charged with importing cocaine, conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

On Wednesday, acting Police Commissioner Henry Greene told Stabroek News that while the local authorities are yet to contact Canada, they had identified a local suspect in connection with the first bust. He said while no arrest has been made, the police are looking for the man. When asked how the cocaine-laden cartons of pepper sauce could have left these shores when checks had to be made, he directed this newspaper to the Customs Anti- Narcotics Unit (CANU), with whom the police are collaborating. CANU officials were unavailable for comment.

Reports were that the shipment left Guyana and arrived in the country on board the Tropic Canada in Saint John, New Brunswick on Decem-ber 8. The freighter reportedly regularly transports goods between Saint John and the Caribbean.

Stabroek News contacted the Light House, which has a record of all ships entering and leaving Port Georgetown, and was told that the Tropic Canada never entered these waters.

However, knowledgeable persons in the shipping industry say that the shipment could have left aboard another ship, probably a smaller vessel, and then transferred to the Tropic Canada via another Caribbean country. If Tropic Canada had entered this country the Light House would have had a record of it. Greene confirmed that the shipment left Guyana but would not say by what means.

The major interceptions in Canada and the USVI would be seen as a major embarrassment for Guyana amid international concerns that it was not doing enough to stem the drug trade.