Recent charges against two airport employees who allegedly allowed cocaine to be transported to New York undetected is a major breakthrough in the ongoing collusion between the facility’s staff and drug traffickers and while applauding the efforts of the investigators, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud says that there is still more work to be done.
Sources told Stabroek News that the operation to nab the accused was conducted by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).
Investigations have also implicated a policeman but it will be up to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to determine whether he and several other airport employees who are being grilled will be charged.
Last week Friday, an airline employee responsible for checking-in baggage at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri and a Red Cap (baggage handler) appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court charged with conspiracy to traffic in narcotics.
The narcotics in question was intercepted at the JKF airport in New York and this sparked a deeper investigation here to find out who allowed it pass through the security system at Timehri undetected.
In a telephone interview last week, Persaud said he was pleased with the progress so far, not only given the fact that this is the first breakthrough the force has had in its battle with drug collusion at the port of entry but also that “an arrangement has been penetrated”.
“Our belief is that there has always been collusion between airport employees and drug traffickers. This investigation is showing that there is evidence of that collusion,” the crime chief stressed.
He further stated that the charging of the two persons shows that ranks are making some headway in the fight but pointed out that there is still a lot more that needs to be done to bring the problem under control.
The system at the airport, he said, was a good one but the human resources are not available to handle the system and that is the problem.
CANU sources have told Stabroek News that there were several incidents caught on tape where airport security allowed drug couriers to get onto flights without the requisite security checks.
More charges likely
Persaud told Stabroek News that investigations are still ongoing and a policeman is among the suspects in the matter. He said two more airport employees are being questioned and in the coming days several others will be grilled by the investigators.
Following this, a file will be prepared and sent to the DPP for advice on the way forward and this could result in more charges being laid.
Over the years, several cocaine busts have been made at the airport. However, large quantities of the drug has been able to make it to foreign ports of entry concealed in fish, timber, furniture, pepper sauce, knitted doilies and an ivory-coloured towel among others.
Nineteen-year-old Mark Lim of Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara and Ryan Mangah, 29, of Lot 32 Public Road, Timehri, East Bank Demerara, airport employees who were charged last week Friday, denied the allegation that was made against them.
They are on remand and are scheduled to return to court on April 6.
It is alleged that on March 24, Lim, of the ground handling service at the airport, and Mangah, being employed at the airport allowed 18 kilogrammes of cocaine to be shipped to the John F Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York.
The prosecution had stated that on the day in question, Mangah gave the shipment of cocaine, which was concealed in a bag under the name “Reginald Singh”, to Lim, who in turn allowed it to pass through the airport’s system.
The prosecution had stated that this act was recorded on camera at the airport and officers traced the bag when it arrived at JFK.
