Authorities unearth explosives at Region 4 house as local probe widens – Minister Benn

Belgium cocaine bust

…Govt alarmed that shipment made it out of Guyana

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn speaking to the media on Monday

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn has related that local law enforcement authorities have encountered explosives at one location during a series of searches on dwellings in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) as the local probe into the massive drug bust in Belgium, where some 11.5 tonnes of cocaine was found in a scrap metal shipment originating from Guyana, widens.
Benn made the statement on the sidelines of an event on Monday.
“There were a number of houses searched. I am aware that care was taken to enter a particular house. There appeared to be a rigged up explosive arrangement at the normal entrance to that house. The issue is being reviewed too but yes, the efforts of the law enforcement, CANU (Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit) and the police are being attended to by certain risk,” the Minister said.
When asked to provide an update on the local leg of the investigation, the Minister said that while he cannot comprehensively do so, he can safely say that months of planning went into the operation. He added that they are extremely alarmed at the fact that the shipment of such a large quantity of illicit drugs made it past so many security checks – container scanners, container checks and others.
He said at least four persons are in custody and are being interviewed by the authorities while the manhunt is still on for businessman Marlon Primo, whose last known addresses are 701 Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and 69 Atlantic Ville, ECD.

The cocaine that was found in one of the containers on the vessel

Benn also assured international partners that vigorous investigations are being conducted locally.
“We have assured the European authorities, the Belgian law enforcement authorities and also the US authorities of our vigorous engagement of coming to terms and dealing with and discovering those who were involved in perpetrating this crime. Of course, the thought is this activity could not have happened overnight that it had to be in preparation and planning for a long period of time and that it would have taken quite a bit of time to plan and do the logistics. I think to compromise persons and fooling others too in respect of making the shipment so it had to be several months in preparation,” Minister Benn said.
On Thursday, the Brussel Times reported that Belgian authorities had intercepted a vessel that allegedly left Guyana in October with a whooping 11.5 tonnes of cocaine – the largest drug bust ever.
It was reported that counter-narcotics prosecutors tracked the transatlantic journey of 11.5 tonnes of cocaine from Guyana, on the northeastern coast of South America, and seized it upon its arrival at the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, on Wednesday last.
Federal prosecutors told Belgian media that this is “the largest overseas drug bust ever, worldwide” with an estimated street value of €900 million or US$1.06 billion. The drugs were disguised as scrap metal and placed inside a steel container, which was, in turn, packed into a sea container and loaded into a transatlantic vessel.
According to the report, the massive load of cocaine left Guyana late in October, and prosecutors were able to track it following the dismantlement of a drug trafficking gang led by a former Belgian counter-narcotics chief, which revealed the existence of tight-knit links between criminal gangs and counter-narcotics and law enforcement officials.
The reports stated that three police officers, a port manager, and a lawyer were among some 20 other criminals arrested as part of an operation targeting the “well-structured” criminal organisation suspected of orchestrating large and “regular” drug shipments from South America to Belgium.
However, the record-breaking shipment was expected by law enforcement officials as it is suspected it left the port of Guyana after the drug gang’s arrest in Belgium, with drug gangs unable to intercept it once at sea, De Standaard reported.
The dismantlement of the drug gang late in September led to the arrest and indictment of 22 people, with three people still in the Netherlands awaiting extradition.
This major drug bust comes on the heels of one in August in Hamburg, Germany, where authorities discovered 1.5 tonnes of cocaine in a container of rice shipments. The cocaine had a street value of around €300 million and had originated from Guyana.