Jamaica law enforcement authorities on Wednesday intercepted approximately 100 pounds of cocaine hidden in a rice shipment which originated from Guyana, according to the head of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) James Singh who says that his ranks are assisting their counterparts on the Caribbean island with the probe.
Details on the bust are sketchy but Stabroek News was told that the cocaine was found in close to 50 parcels in a bag which was hidden in the shipment.
From all indications the secreting of the drugs in the rice occurred at this end. Stabroek News has been unable to establish who the shipper is, whether that person has been questioned and if any arrests have been made.
There have been several previous instances where drugs were hidden in rice shipments.
In August 2013, 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 then Guyana/ Venezuela rice deal.
