Police in ganja bust at Gateroy

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force on Friday last conducted a 12-hour drug eradication exercise at Gateroy, Upper Berbice River, during which four fields measuring about 8 acres were found cultivated with Cannabis Sativa with an estimated 10, 000 plants measuring between 2-6 feet in height and with a weight of approximately 21000 kilograms, police said yesterday.

A police release said that the cultivations along with a 15×20 camp were photographed and destroyed by fire. No arrests have been made thus far as efforts are being made to trace and apprehend the owner or owners of the land with a view to instituting charges.

Based on weeks of intelligence gathering, the police had said that ranks on November 17 during a ten-hour operation in the Berbice River, destroyed several acres of cannabis and nine camps.

The cannabis and camps were found at Hofwerk and Gateroy respectively, located several miles out of New Amsterdam.

In excess of eight thousand plants ranging in height from two to six feet with an estimated weight of seventeen thousand kilograms were found under cultivation, with makeshift tents and camps erected under which harvested cannabis was hung up to dry, while a large quantity already packaged in bags with an average weight of nine thousand kilograms.

No arrests were made then.