CANU aiding Dominican Republic cocaine in rice probe

The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) is assisting in the investigations into the discovery of 69 kilogrammes of cocaine in a rice shipment in the Dominican Republic last month, unit head James Singh said yesterday.

The shipment, which originated from Guyana made a stop in Jamaica and was heading to Venezuela.

“I can say that we are collaborating but I cannot comment further because the investigation is ongoing. There is close collaboration between Guyana, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic,” he said when asked about the case during a narcotics destruction exercise yesterday.

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 in Puerto Caucedo, a Liberian-flagged container ship, from Jamaica. Dominican Republic law enforcement officials have since arrested three persons.