The ingenuity of drug traffickers was on display again yesterday at the Timehri airport when 46 pounds of cocaine was found in drinking straws which were made to look like macaroni and then hidden in boxes of mangoes destined for Canada.
According to the police, four men are in custody assisting with investigations. Stabroek News understands that the shipper is among those being questioned and that court appearances could be made as early as today.
Police said in a press release yesterday afternoonthat around 3.30 am, acting on information received, ranks of the Police Narcotics Branch at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri conducted a search of boxes of mangoes consigned for shipment to Canada.
A total of 21 kilograms, 874 grams of cocaine were found concealed in macaroni boxes which were among the mangoes.
A law enforcement source explained to this newspaper that while inspecting the shipment, ranks found several boxes containing packets of a locally produced “long macaroni”. The source said that the ranks opened the box for inspection and immediately became suspicious as the contents of the packages looked strange.
According to the source, on further inspection the ranks discovered that the noodles had been replaced with drinking straws which had been stuffed with cocaine. The source said that the perpetrators then sprayed each straw to resemble the noodles.
Stabroek News was told that this is the first time smugglers were caught using this method of stashing drugs. According to the source it is possible that such a method was used before but for some reason was not detected.
This latest bust comes on the heels of another cocaine-laden shipment which was intercepted by law enforcement ranks. Last Thursday, over 327.7 kilograms of cocaine was found concealed in packages of Foam and Breeze soap power which was in a container at the John Fernandes Limited terminal on Mandela Avenue.
The shipment was flagged for secondary examination by the Container Scanner unit. The examination was done during a four-day period.
The total weight of the drugs found in clear plastic bags was 300 kilos, worth US$10M and the consignee was identified as Okeke Michael Okwudili, 26 Nacho Shed, Maladi, Niger.
Prior to that, a container from Guyana was intercepted in Malaysia with cocaine worth RM22 million in tins of coconut milk. It is believed that a Nigerian drug syndicate was behind it.
Following local investigations two men, Vijay Bisraj, 25, of Lot 57 Section ‘B‘ Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara and Looknaught Denasur, the manager of a Guyana-based packaging plant were arrested and charged.
Denasur pleaded guilty and said that he was paid an initial $100,000 with a promise of $1M if the drugs reached their destination. He was sentenced to four years imprisonment.
Bisraj, a seaman, denied that he sealed a number of tins labelled as coconut milk. It was alleged that prior to his present profession he was an expert in the sealing of metal tin caps at a factory at Coldingen, ECD.
Stabroek News understands that recently a special unit comprising ranks from the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the police narcotics branch was established amidst concerns that smugglers are using Guyana increasingly as a transshipment point for drugs.
Ranks have also been put on alert that smugglers are coming up with ingenious ways to conceal it.
