Pepper sauce, furniture probes intensifying
Most of the cocaine being exported from Guyana is likely coming from Venezuela via the Pomeroon, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) says and the nexus between that trade and gun-running is increasingly clear, sources say.
Inderpaul Doodnauth
In the wake of three large busts in Canada, the US and the US Virgin Islands of cocaine-filled shipments which originated from Guyana, questions have been raised about where the drugs are coming from and about the repackaging operations here.
CANU sources tell Stabroek News that around 60% of the cocaine that enters Guyana comes from Vene-zuela and transits through the Pomeroon. There is a lot of unmonitored boat traffic between Guyana and Venezuela which also accommodates gun-running. Drug trafficking, transport of guns and smuggling of fuel are intertwined in these areas and complement each other.
Orlando Watson
A portion of the drugs that enters the country from Venezuela goes farther east to Suriname by go-fast boats and there is an easy convertibility between the drug and gun-smuggling trades. For instance, in Suriname the going rate today for two Chinese-made AK-47s is a kilo of cocaine.
Questions linger over how and where the exporters in Guyana are packaging their drugs in these big shipments.
On December 8, officers found 276 kilos of high-quality cocaine at the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick, aboard a ship, Tropic Canada.
Reginald Rodrigues
The Toronto 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 the cardboard dividers of 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, Ontario. 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.
A second major drug shipment was traced back to Guyana after US federal agents on December 24 seized 100 kilos of cocaine found inside pepper sauce cartons aboard a ship in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The US agents had been tipped off by Canada.
Nymrod Singh
Then on the heels of two major pepper sauce busts, customs authorities at the Port of Miami, on December 29 acting on a tip off unearthed 373 pounds of cocaine hidden in furniture aboard a vessel, whose last stop was in Georgetown.
CANU sources yesterday said that both investigations are making headway. In relation to the pepper sauce shipments, a significant amount of information has been exchanged with Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police and CANU is preparing to reel in more suspects. One of the suspects that CANU issued a bulletin for, Indarpaul Doodnauth, made himself available to the agency for questioning. Doodnauth, an East Coast-based businessman is the brother of Mahendrapaul Doodnauth, the man held by Canadian authorities in connection with both shipments of the pepper sauce cocaine. Canada is proceeding with its investigation and staying in touch with local law enforcement agencies.
Another man sought by CANU, Reginald Rodrigues, who was thought to be the shipper of the pepper consignment seized in Canada went underground after the bust became public and was able to evade an attempt to arrest him here. It is believed he has since fled to Suriname via the backtrack.
Another man wanted for questioning in relation to the pepper sauce, Orlando Watson has been in touch with the authorities here but is yet to turn himself in. He is thought to be connected to the second shipment. CANU sources say they are actively seeking two other businessmen who participated in the pepper sauce cocaine shipment and based on information from their lawyer they may turn themselves in for questioning. The two are associated with a business in Georgetown.
CANU sources say that the pepper sauce shipments were financed by a coterie of shady characters and persons with criminal antecedents who were looking to make a whopping profit from their Christmas operation. With the crushing of the operation some of the suspects are not only being sought by CANU but also by their financiers.
A suspect in the shipment of the cocaine furniture to Miami, Nymrod Singh, was nabbed in Bartica on Saturday after his photograph appeared in the newspapers. He spent his second day in custody yesterday and sources say he is saying that an acquaintance asked him to ship the furniture to Miami.
The furniture was allegedly picked up by Singh on November 1 and next appeared containerized on November 25 at a city wharf for loading onto the MV Rio Para.
This bust involved 194 packages valued at US$5.5M which was concealed in 72 pieces of furniture packed into the container.
According to NBC6.NET, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers inspecting the containers at the Miami seaport were alerted by a CBP K-9 to a specific container loaded with furniture.
The officers, attached to the Anti-Terrorism Contra-band Enforcement Team, proceeded to examine the furniture and discovered three packages concealed within one of the pieces of furniture. One of the packages was tested by the officers and the substance was positive for cocaine.
More packages of the drugs were discovered in 71 other pieces of furniture.
According to the Canadian press, the pepper sauce 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.
The local investigations have also unearthed weaknesses in customs operations which enable the illicit shipments.
In one of the pepper shipments a fake Taxpayer Identification Number was used and the name of a non-existent company provided. Documents for the second pepper shipment appeared to be a copy of that provided for the first.
In relation to the furniture shipment, it was discovered that containers are being packed and sealed at locations where there isn’t adequate inspection. These containers are then taken to the wharves and shipped without any further checks of their cargo.
Look I think that the Present situation is terrible and as a Nation we can do more work in stopping the Drugs Trade between Venezuela and Guyana. We need to increase our protection on the borders by having more inspectors, police and law enforcement officers at the major ports aross the country. Our current Adminstration has been denying the efforts to increase Border security, employ more law enforcemnt and make CANU more effective in intercepting the drugs. The time for Change is vital because we can’t aford for these drugs to be lingering the streets and leaving our ports. It also poses a threat to our domestic policy because not only we put drugs on the street by not employing preventitive methods but also we are making our youths more vulnerable to increase drug abuse. What we need to do is to create more opportunites for youths to get involved in service in law enforcement and the military by recruiting them to protect our borders and giving them jobs.
This regime is just keeping up the appreace as if they are really doing something! Year in and out it’s the same old, same old. They are not really serious since they are keeping quiet on the visible traffickers that they are cosy with. Typical of the dictatorship.
In response to Freespeech:
“they are deeply hurt that one sector of the population is getting real rich, with all the luxury in life. while they run away and are struggling in the cold to survive.”
What exactly is the basis for your comment – is it race, class or overseas vs. local guyanese?
“i will agree with you if not guyana then some where else or some other means for the trade to continue, it’s very lucrative and there is a vast demand for it.”
Indeed, there will always be crooks. That doesn’t mean that Guyanese must be the crooks. There are other ways to make money too. Plus, the vast demand issue is nothing but crap. The overwhelming majority of people in rich nations don’t use drugs. The problem is that the group that is considered in that vast demand is comprised of mostly young impressionable kids who are targeted by these drug peddlers. More than selling the drugs is making the drugs easily accessible and available in places where young people are vulnerable and are likely to try it.
In fact, cocaine use in the USA has progressively decreased since the 80s so there goes your nonsensical theory. With decreasing demand in the USA, the real push of the drug barons is to peddle this sick drug to innocent and vulnerable youths to hook them for life. Cocaine use has dramatically increased in Guyana in the past decade, a direct result of the easy availability of the drug brought in by those same drug barons you seem to find to fault with.
With diminishing markets in the rich nations, stronger surveillance and interception by those nations, more busts coming down the pipeline now that Guyana is in the radar and shrinking profit margins for middlemen in Guyana buying cocaine from ruthless and savage Colombians who like to be paid on time and hate getting their shipments confiscated, I anticipate there will be a lot more of these drug peddlers dead in these “get rich or die trying” schemes. Some of these guys aren’t running from the police alone and some are probably very happy to turn themselves over to the police.
let the u.s and canada curb the use of drugs and let’s see who will buy…
hello my fellow guyanese,
finally it seems as though the fight against drugs by canu is going in the right direction but i want to know why they jump the georgetown connection and gone till to the borders where the stuff is coming from but hear me people dont get me wrong they`re doing a good job , is just that i believe that if they search regent street they will find much more drugs in the store rooms of some of these places than what the americans and canadians found combined.
First it was PetroCaribe. Now it NarcoCaribe.Venezuela is one of those gift horses ,or mules, that we will need to look in its mouth.
GUYS GUYANA CAN SERIOUSLY PUT A CRIMP ON THE DRUG TRADE IN GUYANA VERY CHEAPLY. JUST ALLOW THE AMERICANS TO COME IN AND TAKE THE DEALERS, WITH THE KIND OF TIME THEY GIVE OUT HERE IN THE US MANY OF THEM WILL THINK TWICE. THE US ALREADY HAS SURVELANCE GOING ON IN GUYANA, THEY KNOW WHO THE DEALERS ARE, IT WOULD NOT COST GUYANA A PENNY.
as the saying goes……..IF THERE IS A DEMAND…THE SUPPLY WILL COME..
I’d strongly suggest that the head of CANU, GDF and GPF call their counterparts in Suriname and Venezuela and hold a summit to come up with solutions on how best to tackle this very serious issue of cross border drug and gun trafficking.
Holding such a summit would show the Americans and Canadians that GY is serious about tackling this scourge and would help in improving GY image abroad.