Guyana mulls working with regional, int’l partners to police airspace – Pres Ali on combatting drug trade

– promises to “break the back” of narco-trafficking network

With Guyana long being known as a transshipment safe-haven for drug trafficking, the Government is now looking to work with international partners to better police its airspace as part of efforts to dismantle the narcotics trafficking networks.
Last week, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the local Joint Services in collaboration with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) discovered some 4.4 tonnes of cocaine, a street value of €176 million (G$40.7 billion), hidden in several bunkers around an illegal airstrip near Matthew’s Ridge in Region One (Barima-Waini).

Guyanese authorities suspected that the narcotics were brought to Guyana from a nearby country via air and were waiting to be shipped to Europe via the sea/ocean.
Commenting on this recent successful operation, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Wednesday said this is demonstrative of this administration’s resolve to combat narco-trafficking but more specifically, protecting Guyana from continuously being used as a transshipment destination for the movement of illicit substances.
“To those who may have an ambition of using Guyana as a transnational point for the movement of illegal substances; let me be clear, we’ll come after you with the full force of the law. We’ll not allow our country to be used as a conduit for criminal activity and will pursue those who seek to do so. You’ve had tremendous successes in recent times in drug intersections and those involved, deserve our commendations. We’re committed to dismantling any cells which may exist locally and that lend support to transnational criminal cartels. This is our commitment to the global community and all our partners,” President Ali said during the launch of Guyana’s National Defence Institute.
However, the Head of State further outlined that last week’s massive drug bust would not be the end of these efforts as Guyana is now looking to work with regional and international partners to clamp down on the drug trade network.
According to President Ali, the focus will now be specifically on policing the country’s airspace.
“We have every intention, working with our partners, to destabilise and break the back of all criminal networks, especially in drug trafficking, operating within our territorial space and in our airspace. We have already asked and we are ready to work with our partners, once we are given the assets and once, we can secure the assets, to deal with all the overflights that are passing over our airspace. We are ready to work with you in dismantling the global empire that the drug trade has created,” the Guyanese Leader asserted.
To do this, however, President Ali underscored the importance of collaboration both at the regional and international levels.
“We need that support. We have to work together. You have a partner in us …and part of that partnership is for all of us, not only the US and Guyana and the region, but for every stakeholder [to work together] because we see today how the trade is changing because of prices and demand, and Europe is being severely impacted. So, all of us have a joint responsibility, and as small as we are and with the limited resources that we have, you can be assured that we are taking our responsibility seriously. And any information, any information set that is available to us, we will go after to the best of our ability,” Ali noted.
Director of CANU, James Singh, had told reporters in Region One on Sunday that the illegal airstrip was built with a plan to accommodate small aircraft, bringing narcotics from outside of Guyana.
According to Singh, the discovery was the second phase of an ongoing operation with the GDF to identify illegal airstrips across the country and monitor them. He revealed that a few days prior, Joint Services ranks found a quantity of fuel and with the assistance of persons in the area, further investigations led to the unearthing of the cocaine found hidden in the bunkers/pits that were hand-dug about five to six feet deep and were covered with tarpaulin, wood and bushes. The billion-dollar worth of cocaine was destroyed after samples were taken for further investigations.
Meanwhile, as investigations continue into the massive drug bust, there have been reports of a senior police officer being involved.
Questioned about this, acting Police Commissioner, Clifton Hicken, told reporters on Wednesday that he is not aware of this and if it turns out to be true then the Guyana Police Force will conduct an independent probe into this allegation.
“I said I’m gonna engage [James Singh] and if there is an investigation coming out from CANU then we will, of course, follow it up when we get the information,” the Top Cop told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday.
Also commenting on this allegation, President Ali added that “The drug bust was being led by our Joint Services, our intelligence with international partners [and] they did exceedingly good work… This is an ongoing [investigation and] of course, the agencies will be continuing their work to determine all players and to see as much information they can gather.” (G-3)