The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) on Thursday secured a High Court order for the civil forfeiture of foreign and local currency which amounted to over $16 million.
The amounts include $18,780, VEF$1,081,605, and US$79,311, all of which, it was concluded, constituted the proceeds of drug trafficking and money laundering. The sums were seized from Venezuelan woman, Angelica Margarita Lara Malave. No affidavit was filed in the High Court forfeiture matter for or on behalf of Malave
The sums, along with bank cards and Western Union receipts were discovered on January 2, 2018, when the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit executed simultaneous searches in the homes of Gavin Adams, of Grant Woodland, Lower Pomeroon River, and Malave and Yeison Andres Sanchez Vallejo, of Lot 285 Barrow Street, Republic Park, East Bank Demerara.
