CANU ranks urged to look out for ‘intelligent criminals’

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan on Monday told ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) that they have to be prepared for the wave of intelligent criminals who are engaging in the narcotics trade.
He made the charge at the opening of the Unit’s annual counter-narcotics staff training.

He said the smuggling of narcotics was dangerous to the democracy of any nation and it hindered economic growth while taking away from the “human-ness” of the population.
“It is a completely evil thing dealing and smuggling in narcotics. It has made billions for some people, but it had destroyed so many lives and so many families and the temptation for indulging in this kind of conduct is an extraordinarily dangerous undertaking,” Ramjattan said.
“We are in this war against drugs, and you are going to be our best soldiers in that war. The training is important. I want transformational change in almost every Department of Government, including CANU, and that kind of transformational change must come by you being prepared to do the honest and the right thing; the thing that will bring dignity to you and enhance your integrity,” he added.
He said that it was important that radical change brought radical impact and urged the CANU ranks to place special emphasis on the ethics and professionalism aspects of the weeklong training, adding that through professionalism great officers were made. The Minister urged the officers to take the moral high ground in order to improve the reputation of the Unit.

He told the officers that they must take the initiative, since they were part of a Unit that dealt with the laws and ingredients of the offences they charge persons for.
“I am happy to see that this is going to be a continuous training and you will be in-house trainees to have a better understanding of the Act, the offences, the evidence you require, the manner in which you handle that evidence and how you marshal your facts to get the substantive convictions. Convictions are so important and I have watched the records and there have been many interdictions with investigations and sometimes as it reaches the court; our records must be improved as regards to convictions…and convictions is the big six you all want,” Ramjattan said.
Deputy CANU Head Lesley Ramlall underscored the importance of the training session while urging the ranks to make full use of the training. The ranks would be engaged in a week-long training session at the National Racquet Centre in Georgetown and would be better equipped to deal with investigations, charges and the laws that govern their operations.