Authorities in Guyana remain tightlipped about the local leg of the investigation into the theft of 70 gold bars from a Guyanese boat in Curacao two weeks ago and to date no information has been released on the identity and fate of the crew.
Contacted last evening, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud would only say that there has been no new information. He had previously said that a team would be travelling to Curacao to meet the relevant officials. When asked if the team had left, Persaud responded, “when there is new information you will be made aware”.
Since the incident very little information has been released to the media. There has been no official word on the owner of the vessel – Summer Bliss.
The vessel arrived in Curacao at 4 am two Fridays ago and was attacked shortly after mooring. According to police reports, the robbers went to the port area in three different cars and guards let them inside the restricted area in the mistaken belief that they were customs officials. The men’s jackets had the word “police” in English but in Curacao the word would have been written in Papiamento, one of the island’s three official languages, as “polis.”
News agency Amigoe reported that six men, carrying guns and wearing masks and hoodies along with the police jackets stormed the ship. At gunpoint, they pushed the 51-year-old captain as well as the three Guyanese crewmen onto the ground.
The perpetrators apparently knew their way around the ship and walked directly to the three metal boxes with the gold bars which had a total weight of 476 lbs and they reportedly took only five minutes to remove them.
Curacao police have said that the gold shipment was legitimate as the required documentation and clearance for that territory were filled out.
Subsequently, Persaud informed this newspaper that the stolen gold did not originate from here as there is no paperwork to suggest it left these shores. He said that this concluded was based on the information coming from the authorities in Curacao.
According to a source, based on the amount of gold involved it would appear that the gold was smuggled to Suriname in parts over a period of time before being made into gold bars.
Stabroek News’ investigations revealed that there is no record of the registration of the vessel, Summer Bliss, with the Guyana Maritime Administra-tion Department (MARAD). Local officials, a senior police force source has said, believe that the name of the vessel was not legitimately registered and that the vessel’s name was changed for smuggling purposes.
