After three weeks on the run Barry Dataram was on Friday morning apprehended in Suriname. He was reportedly arrested by the Surinamese SWAT team in Southern Paramaribo.
His reputed wife, Anjanie Boodnarine was also held at a house in Paramaribo.
Dataram and Boodnarine absconded Guyana one day before a court ruling in connection with a drug possession charge. An arrest warrant was issued for their arrests. It was believed that Dataram and his wife entered Suriname through a backtrack route.
Dataram was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment and fined $164 million in absentia after he was found guilty of being in possession of 129.230 kilogrammes of cocaine on April 16, 2015 at his Lot 661 Silver Dam, Fourth Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara home.
His reputed wife, Kevin Charran and Trevor Gouveia were all freed on the drug charge.
It is clear at this time that Guyanese law enforcement authorities will approach the Surinamese officials for the quick extradition of both Dataram and Boodnarine.
Acting Crime Chief, Hugh Jessemy, told the Guyana Times that the Guyana Police Force was contacted by its Surinamese counterparts, shortly after the fugitive was nabbed. However, he explained that before local law enforcement can get their hands on the couple, Dataram and his wife will have to first face the Surinamese authorities.
Jessemy pointed out that because the duo was found with false travel documents, they may very well be charged and have to pass through the courts in the neighbouring country before being handed over to Guyana.
“So after all of that is done, (the Surinamese authorities) will contact us and say when they are ready to hand over the suspects, because we did put out the information to the INTERPOL – the international police and our neighbours that we are looking for them. So we will have to position ourselves to receive them but after they would have face whatever they have to in Suriname,” the acting Crime Chief posited.
The duo was initially arrested after Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) swooped down on his East Bank Demerara home. During the search the ranks unearthed the cocaine.
It was reported that some of the cocaine was stuffed in frozen seafood, while the remainder was found to be bricks of raw cocaine. CANU ranks also seized an undisclosed sum of money.
In March, Dataram during a television interview, admitted his involvement in the drug trade but added that he had never been convicted of a criminal charge.
He was arrested several times but had escaped the clutches of United States law enforcement after an extradition attempt failed.
Dataram also accused a high ranking CANU official of being involved in the drug trade and added that the rank would take as much as $10 million to allow cocaine to leave the country.
Following the revelation, head of CANU, James Singh, had denied the allegation made against his staff, while noting: “CANU welcomes further public confessions of criminal elements. CANU urges the citizenry to stand up, speak out, to have the tenacity to testify against the elements of the narcotic trade; and help the unit make Guyana a safer place!”
