Local authorities are currently investigating how 69 kilogrammes of cocaine ended up in a rice shipment which was intercepted in the Dominican Republic eleven days after it departed Guyana.
The grain was shipped by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) under the Guyana/Venezuela rice deal. This newspaper was told that the route was from Guyana to Jamaica to the Dominican Republic to Venezuela.
Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) head James Singh when contacted confirmed that there is an investigation being conducted.
GRDB General Manager, Jagnarine Singh told Stabroek News yesterday that “right now I cannot confirm whether it is real or not”, adding that something did happen. He said that so far no one had spoken to him about what happened and neither had he had any word from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Stabroek News was told that at this point it is hard to ascertain when the drugs were placed on the ship which was in three places – Guyana, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
Following the seizure contact was made with law enforcement officials in Jamaica and subsequently those in Guyana.
It was reported in the Dominican Republic press on August 13 that the country’s National Drugs Control Agency (DNCD) had seized 69 packages of cocaine or heroin in Puerto Caucedo, a Liberian-flagged container, from Jamaica. Laboratory test later confirmed that the packages contained cocaine.
Dominican law enforcement officials have since arrested three persons.
