Deadly Mobil Service Station bombing: Surveillance footage, recorded interviews tendered in court as case continues

The paper committal (PC) proceedings in the deadly October 2025 Mobil Service Station bombing, which commenced earlier this month, resumed on Monday before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. A paper committal is a process in which the court determines whether there is sufficient evidence to commit an accused to stand trial based on documentary evidence rather than live testimony. During the proceedings, Senior Police Legal Advisor Mandel Moore presented additional video exhibits, including surveillance footage from the blast site and recorded police interviews with two of the accused. Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty is considering whether the prosecution has established a prima facie case to warrant committing the four accused to stand trial in the High Court.
Among the exhibits tendered were closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings captured at the Mobil Service Station on Regent and King Streets, Georgetown, where the fatal explosion occurred on October 26, 2025. The court also briefly viewed video-recorded interviews conducted by the police with alleged mastermind, Venezuelan national Daniel Alexander Ramirez Poedemo and fellow Venezuelan national Alexander Bettencourt. Poedemo, Bettencourt, Venezuelan national Jhonny Boodram and Guyanese-Venezuelan Krystal LaCruz are jointly facing terrorism-related charges arising from the bombing, which claimed the life of six-year-old Soraya Bourne.
The four accused, who are represented by their respective attorneys, were not required to enter pleas to the indictable charges at this stage of the proceedings.
At the conclusion of Monday’s proceedings, they were further remanded to prison until the matter resumes on Thursday, July 2, 2026, at 13:30h.
The proceedings stem from one of Guyana’s most serious national security incidents in recent years. The explosion occurred at the Mobil Service Station on October 26, 2025, after an explosive device detonated while Bourne was seated in a vehicle with relatives at the busy fuel station. Several members of her family were also injured, while nearby buildings and several vehicles sustained significant damage. The current proceedings involve only four of the original seven accused.
Earlier this year, Guyanese nationals Ramesh Pramdeo and Wayne Correia were discharged after Magistrate Alisha George of the Leonora Magistrates’ Courts, upheld a no-case submission filed by Defence Attorney Bernard DaSilva. The defence argued that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the two men and contended that they should have been treated as witnesses rather than as persons accused of aiding and abetting an act of terrorism.
During those proceedings, the prosecution disclosed a substantial body of evidence, including 244 witness statements, 39 exhibits, 61 digital discs, three sets of photographs and a flash drive. However, the court found that the evidence specifically linking Pramdeo and Correia to the alleged offences was insufficient and ordered that they be discharged. In contrast, their former co-accused, Venezuelan national Jennifer Rodriguez, was committed to stand trial in the High Court after Magistrate George found that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against her on the charge of aiding and abetting terrorism. Rodriguez remains on remand and is expected to stand trial at the next practicable sitting of the Demerara Criminal Assizes. The prosecution has so far presented a substantial body of evidence before Acting Chief Magistrate McGusty, including witness statements, forensic reports, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) reports, documentary evidence and numerous exhibits gathered during the investigation.
During interrogation, Poedemo reportedly admitted that he and one of his accomplices arrived in Guyana illegally by boat hours before the terror attack.
In a confession statement, he allegedly indicated that he had brought the bomb from Venezuela and activated it when he exited a vehicle at the gas station. It was also confirmed that he is a member of a Sindicato gang named “Organisation R” in his home country. The Government has indicated that it will seek the death sentence against those convicted in the case under Guyana’s anti-terrorism legislation, which allows for capital punishment where a terrorist act results in death.