CANU seizes $11.5M worth of ganja in fowl pen at Tuschen
The narcotics that were found during the operation
The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) on Wednesday found $11.5 million worth of imported cannabis in a fowl pen at Tuschen New Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo.
CANU has said it conducted an operation that resulted in the seizure of the cannabis in 23 brick-like parcels. The narcotics tested positive for an imported drug referred to as “creepy”, and had a total weight of about 63lbs, or 24.8kgs. The estimated street value of this seizure is pegged at $11.5 million.
No arrests were made at the time of the operation, but investigations are ongoing.
CANU has said it continues to work with other law enforcement agencies to stem the flow of narcotics in and out of the country, while maintaining an effective presence at the various points of entry/exit.
The unit’s effectiveness undoubtedly yielded success in 2022 with the seizure of 3,403 kilograms of narcotics amounting to a whopping $1.1 billion. By type, the seized narcotics comprised 121.31kg of cocaine; 3280.25kg of ganja; 818.7 grams of ecstasy; 302.6 grams of methamphetamine, and 1kg of cannabis seeds. This represented a 68.26 per cent increase in seizures over those made in 2021, when 2022.88kg of narcotics were recorded as seized.
According to statistics provided by CANU, these seizures were made in Regions Four, Six, Nine, Three, and Ten, with Region Four accounting for the largest seizure of narcotics. In Region Four, 104.49kg of cocaine, 410.12kg of cannabis, 302.6g of methamphetamine, 366g of ecstasy, and 1kg of cannabis seeds were confiscated. In Region Six, 50g of cocaine, 2845.52kg of cannabis, and 452.7g of ecstasy were seized; while in Region Nine, 22g of cocaine and 4.81kg of cannabis were seized. 16.74kg of cocaine and 118g of cannabis were seized in Region Three, and 19.67kg of cannabis were confiscated in Region 10.
CANU Head, James Singh, related that the Unit would continue to pursue its mandate in the hope of minimising such activities and reducing the amounts of illicit drugs on the market.
Among its activities are better interagency support; stakeholders’ involvement in the Private Sector; joint programmes with the Ministries of Education, Health and Social Services; and working with communities on outreach programmes.
