GRA silent on fine for cocaine ship

-MPs urge full disclosure

The agreement reached for the recent release of the drug-laden cargo ship MV Deltadiep appears to be shrouded in secrecy and opposition leaders are calling for a full disclosure from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

Manned by its 11-member crew, none of whom were charged, the ship recently departed these shores after the payment of a fine. However, the amount paid is yet to be disclosed.

Countless attempts over the past few days to reach Head of the GRA Khurshid Sattaur by telephone and through his secretary were futile up to press time.

Some of the packaged cocaine found on board the ship. (GRA photo)
Some of the packaged cocaine found on board the ship. (GRA photo)

Members of the opposition have since expressed their concern at the withholding of the information and urged Sattaur to make it public.

Cocaine, amounting to 192.4 kilogrammes and worth an estimated $800 million, was found concealed under the pallets of a container aboard the ship. The drug, which was packaged in 185 bricks, was unearthed due to the cooperation between local law enforcement officers and their counterparts in Suriname.

Sattaur had previously signaled that a fine was likely, in keeping with the provisions of the Customs Act.

APNU executive and parliamentarian Joe Harmon told Stabroek News that the fine which ensured the release of the ship relates to the breach of the law and in the circumstances the amount should be made public. Harmon noted that Guyanese citizens have a right to know the quantum of the fine paid and should demand that the figure be released.

“The sum of the fine must be made known. Guyanese cannot be denied the knowledge of knowing what the amount of money that was paid is,” he said.

“There must be something unusual about the agreement that they don’t want to be released,” he added. “If there is some underhand arrangement… that is the only reason they would not want the information to go public.”

Meanwhile, AFC leader and parliamentarian Khemraj Ramjattan, addressing the non-disclosure of the fine paid, pointed out that the money is public revenue under the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act.

He too called for the sum paid to be publicized, while noting that it becomes a public matter when there are negotiations for the release of a ship that is part of a criminal matter. “This is not between the ship people and the GRA. We would like to know how much was paid,” he said.

Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) head James Singh had told Stabroek News that the crew of the vessel was released following a recommendation by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The captain and two of his crew members had been held after the discovery of the narcotics and were confined to the ship.

A security source has since questioned their release in light of the amount of cocaine seized and the fact that it was an international body that alerted authorities here.

The source pointed out that there have been previous cases in nearby countries where drugs are found aboard a vessel and at least the captain was charged. One such case occurred last February, when Guyanese Winston Leslie Fitzgerald Phillips was charged in Barbados after drugs were found aboard the boat he was captaining. He was charged in relation to two kilos of cocaine and 37 pounds of marijuana aboard the ship Rudisa Global, which was transporting cement. There have been other cases where similar amounts of drugs were intercepted and those aboard were charged. “There is a difference here. Abroad people are charged. But what happens here in Guyana? Why couldn’t our investigations lead to any charges? Why were we in such a rush to have this ship leave these shores?” the source questioned.

The source pointed out that it is concerning that no one has been held accountable and the ship owners were just allowed to pay a fine. The source noted that the haul is a huge one and it once again signals the confidence that drug traffickers have about using Guyana as a transshipment point.

According to the source, the officials here must be commended for the interception but at the same time their main aim should have been to catch those responsible. “The drugs have been found. That’s commendable…. But who put them in that container? …That is what we want to know,” the source said, before questioning the level of international assistance Guyana had in this case.

The source pointed out too that drugs traffickers need to be sent a message that Guyana doesn’t want drugs here. “If we are going to fight this we need all the help we can get. We can keep finding kilos and kilos of cocaine in containers but the problem will not be solved until we find the source and the big players,” the source stressed.

The Deltadiep last stopped in Suriname before it arrived in Guyana over the first weekend of the New Year. It sailed to Linden, where bauxite was loaded. It was then scheduled to make stops in Spain and Holland, with its final stop in Belgium.

However, it was under surveillance by local authorities since its arrival, after they were tipped off by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime.

CANU, which is spearheading the investigations into the discovery with assistance from the Guyana Police Force, had taken control of the drugs, while the GRA’s Law Enforcement and Investigation Division and the Drug Examination Unit took possession of the vessel.