(de Ware Tijd) ALBINA – Suriname has apprehended 57 Brazilians in a raid as a result of the deadly shooting incident in French Guiana that claimed the lives of two gendarmes. Military and police units are hunting down illegal Brazilians in the border area in the hope of catching the killer.
An intensive search is being conducted for main suspect Manoelzihno Mauro Ferreira, who is also wanted in Suriname for the murder of a fellow Brazilian three weeks ago. The criminal has allegedly committed more murders in French Guiana. French authorities have released the names of eight people belonging to Ferreira’s gang. After the shooting incident in the Dorlin gold mining area, Suriname sent extra army and police units to the border area to track down illegal Brazilians. In order to discuss the progress of the operation in the border area, Army commander Hedwig Gillard and his French Guianese counterpart, general Bernard Metz, held a high level meeting in Albina yesterday.
Both men refused to divulge whether the meeting was prompted by last week’s incident in Dorlin near Maripasula, but Metz said, “We have a good cooperation, so there are crucial moments during which you hold talks.” Gillard says, however, that such meetings are held nearly every month. Military cooperation between both countries is good, and includes joint training exercises and talks about the different posts along the Marowijne River and further upstream.
