Army sergeant held over grenade plot

An army sergeant is the latest detainee in the investigation into a plot to steal a quantity of grenades from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) training base at Tacama, Berbice River.

Stabroek News was reliably informed that the sergeant and the warrant officer, who is in charge of the arms stores at the training facility, were transported to Base Camp Ayanganna on Thursday and are currently under close arrest.

Two days after last Saturday’s plot was uncovered, the GDF said in a statement that a Warrant Officer is under close arrested after a deliberate plan to steal grenades from the Colonel John Clarke Military School, at Tacama was uncovered.

The grenades, numbering 40, were found in two boxes aback of the accommodation housing the senior training staff, contrary to force regulations which prescribe that grenades not in use are to be kept in the arms and ammunition stores.

An investigation is continuing to determine if there are other perpetrators, the army said, while adding that all the grenades issued to the training base have been accounted for.

A source, who is familiar with army procedures, has since said that smuggling arms off the base was an easy task as soldiers are rarely searched.