Five persons were taken into custody on Friday following the discovery of 20 million worth of cannabis during an operation at Broker Scheme, North East La Penitence, Georgetown.
Based on reports received, CANU officers on the day in question conducted an operation at a house in Broker Scheme, North East La Penitence, Georgetown, during which nine parcels of cannabis were found hidden in two blue barrels.
The barrels with the illegal substance were stashed in an empty room of the house.
The ganja unearthed in the barrels
Following the discovery, the ganja was transported to CANU Headquarters, where it was weighed and amounted 66.8 kg, with a street value of approximately $20 million.
The five persons remain in custody pending charges later in the week.
About one week ago, a former media operative, an ex-Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) employee, and a Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) officer were charged over the discovery of $60 million in cocaine at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
Ex-DPI worker, Zanneel Nirmala Williams, 25, of Lamaha Gardens, Georgetown; former CANU officer Anil Sookhoo, 33, of Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke-Linden Highway; and GRA officer Shameka Caesar, 27, of D’Urban Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown, appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Diamond Golden/Grove Magistrates’ Courts.
Williams pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that on April 22 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, she had 9.628 kilograms of cocaine in her possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The barrels in which the drug was found
As a result of her guilty plea, Williams was remanded to prison until May 30 when she will be sentenced. Meanwhile, Sookhoo and Caesar denied the charge and were each released on $750,000 bail.
It was reported that on the day in question, Williams was an outgoing passenger on a JetBlue flight destined for the JFK International Airport, USA, when CANU officers found a quantity of cocaine inside her hand luggage. As a result, she was arrested and taken to CANU’s Headquarters where another set of cocaine was found strapped to her body.
Based on investigations, Police later arrested Sookhoo and Caesar. The cocaine found in her luggage amounted to 7.962 kilograms while another 1.666 kilograms of cocaine was found strapped to her body.
