Owner denies missing vessel was held with drugs in Venezuela

Rickford Bannister

-gutted bodies mystery continues

By Zoisa Fraser

The owner of the missing Island Princess, Errol Prince yesterday dismissed a report in the Guyana Times that his vessel was held in Venezuela in July with drugs as misleading and damaging to his character and good name.

Prince, a miner and defendant in the $6M Buddy’s fuel smuggling case which was dismissed last March, pointed out to Stabroek News when contacted that his cargo vessel was involved in an accident with another boat and was at a wharf on the Demerara River from May to July undergoing repairs. On July 25 it was contracted to Rohan Paul called `Jango’ who was in control of it at the time it disappeared along with its four-man crew. Three gutted bodies believed to be those of Ryan Chin, Mahendra Singh and Titus Nascimento have since floated up in Essequibo. Rickford Bannister is the other man missing.

 Ryan Chin
Ryan Chin
Titus Buckery Nascimento
Titus Buckery Nascimento
Rickford Bannister
Rickford Bannister

Prince stated too that if there was any truth to the report the Venezuelan authorities would have never released the vessel without the persons aboard being dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.

He did admit that his vessel did make a trip to that neighbouring country in January with cargo and returned here with steel, fertilizers and other goods.

“This thing has put a stain on me man and I am upset about that statement because I called Guyana Times and asked them to retract that story but they never did”, an upset Prince told Stabroek News.

This  newspaper spoke to several senior police officials who all said they were unaware of such an incident and it was for reasons such as this that they have contacted their international partners for assistance with this particular investigation.

According to Prince he had purchased the boat in Suriname many years ago and after doing extensive repairs to convert it from a fishing trawler to a cargo vessel, he began contracting it out to persons. It is his only boat and is said to be registered as a cargo vessel.

He said that the vessel was moored at Friendship, East Bank Demerara but at no time was he told that it was leaving for Parika. Paul is not known to him personally.

Prince pointed out that just like any prized possession, for example a car, the owner would want to know its whereabouts at all times especially if it was being rented to someone.

Recalling events, he said that last Monday night, Paul informed him that the vessel was missing and the following day a chartered plane was used to conduct searches. However, nothing was found. Subsequently persons went out in boats looking but again they came up empty handed. Areas from the Abary River to Supenaam on the Essequibo Coast were searched.

According to the information received, he said the crew made contact with the Lighthouse last Monday night saying that the vessel had broken down off the Mahaica shore.

Reports were made to the Lighthouse, the Maritime Administration and the coast guard that the vessel was missing. Prince said that when the bodies started showing up, they went to the police and made a report.

“It too big to disappear”

Yesterday Prince was still shocked by the disappearance of his vessel which he estimated to be worth some US$200,000 and the discoveries of the bodies.

He said that his vessel was too big to disappear. “It can’t just disappear like that. If it had sunk you would have seen drums, buckets and things floating on the water”, the man said

Prince opined that the only other explanation would be that it was hijacked. He added that the hijacking of vessels at sea is common and it is possible that after the vessel left Parika persons may have believed that it was filled with fuel.

He described the killing of the men as “senseless” adding that they might have been gutted with the belief that the bodies would have stayed under water for a longer period delaying their discovery and giving the perpetrators additional  time to cover their tracks. The businessman pointed out that his vessel is his “lifeline” and he will continue to search for it.

“I can’t give up. I got to find it. Who knows there might be clues aboard that could tell us what really happened”, he added.

During the interview with this newspaper he expressed concerns about security at sea before stressing that the country’s waters are no longer safe for seamen.

The search for the missing vessel will continue today.

Police on Saturday had said that the quartet left Parika with the vessel on September 26 for Friendship, East Bank Demerara. They were last contacted about 18:30 hours the said day and had given their location as the Essequibo River mouth. Efforts to contact them about half an hour later proved futile.

According to the release the bodies of Nascimento and Singh were found in the vicinity of Wakenaam and Ham-burg Island on September 29 and 30 respectively. Their bodies bore gunshot injuries and they had been disembowelled.

The release added that the police had since sought the assistance of Interpol and other friendly law enforcement agencies through the US Drug Enforcement Agency and had provided photographs of the vessel and other related information.

A third body bearing suspected gunshot wounds to the head and leg and which was also disembowelled was discovered on the Queenstown Foreshore on Friday clad in mauve briefs. The fourth is yet to be found.

Several senior police officials have indicated that all possible angles were being pursued especially since the murders were not “ordinary”.

The gutting of the bodies has puzzled authorities and some believe it represents the type of extreme violence associated with the drug trade.

However Paul had on Monday denied that he and the vessel had any connections to drugs or fuel smuggling adding that “that it is not a nice thing to say at this particular time knowing that there is still one crew member missing”.

In the meantime, the mother of Chin, Charade Chin travelled to the city to give a DNA sample to the police. It is believed that the third body discovered is that of her son.

One of the man’s relatives, Lynette Bowry told this newspaper yesterday that his body was identified by the tattoo of a cross on his chest.

The woman yesterday again appealed for the owner of the vessel to contact her on 444-4573 urgently.

On Tuesday morning the three bodies were exhumed and DNA samples taken after which relatives of Nascimento and Singh were allowed to perform final rites before they were reburied. The third body was also reburied because of its advanced state of decomposition.