Joint operation unearths over $40B in cocaine in bunkers near illegal airstrip at Matthew’s Ridge

More than four tonnes of cocaine, with a street value of some G$40.7 billion (176 million Euro), were unearthed in several bunkers off an illegal airstrip near Matthew’s Ridge, Region One (Barima-Waini).

The narcotics, which were found close to the Clandestine Airstrip on Saturday, were destroyed after samples were extracted to assist with further investigations.
In a statement on Sunday, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) disclosed that its officers, in collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Special Forces Unit with support from the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), carried out an operation in Region One on Saturday which led to the discovery of the illegal airstrip.
A subsequent search of the surrounding area resulted in the discovery of 4.4 tonnes of cocaine. Law enforcement officials believe that the drugs were brought to Guyana from neighbouring country/countries and were stored here until further transhipment to Europe.

Director of CANU, James Singh, told reporters at the site that the illegal airstrip was built with a plan to accommodate small aircraft, bringing several kilos of cocaine from outside of Guyana.
According to Singh, Saturday’s 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 massive cocaine find.
The CANU Director related that based on information shared with the DEA, the ranks suspected that the narcotics were hidden underground. As a result of due diligence, the blocks of cocaine were discovered buried in bunkers/pits hand-dug about five to six feet deep and were covered with tarpaulin, wood and bushes.
“[The narcotics] were found in four pits or bunkers neatly camouflaged in a 30-minute walk into the jungle in different directions. There were also several camps within the jungle. The fact that this amount of drugs was found in several locations means that it was waiting for the transhipment… They were waiting for the opportune moment. That’s why I said we were very successful not just in seizing but detecting a new concealment method [and got] an idea as to how big the network is,” Singh explained.
The CANU Head further revealed that when the Joint Services ranks first arrived in the area a few days ago, they observed several persons who escaped into the vast jungle. However, the ranks managed to apprehend one suspect who has since been taken into custody.
Singh pointed out that this successful operation was a direct result of the support that the Guyana Government gives to the local Joint Services to combat the narcotics trade here. He also underscored the importance of collaboration with international partners.
“This is why international collaboration is important because based on the experience of our counterparts in the DEA, we were able to share information, share intelligence and do operations such as this that have resulted in a large seizure of drugs with the assistance of the Joint Services,” he noted.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn, who joined law enforcement officers in Region One on Sunday to witness the destruction of what is described as the largest seizure of cocaine locally and possibly regionally. He explained that they lacked the resources and proper logistics to transport the narcotics from the hinterland location hence the decision was taken to have them destroyed on site.
In fact, the narcotics were only removed from the bunkers on Sunday when the senior security officials travelled to Region One to witness their destruction after they were tested and weighed.
Minister Benn noted that while there is much more to be done, the government has been and will continue to invest in equipping and building the capacity of the local law enforcement agencies, with the support of international partners such as the DEA, to arrest illicit trade in the country.

“I emphasise again that Guyana is a victim of this illegal type of nefarious activity. We don’t produce cocaine, we don’t transit it, we don’t make the guns, which you see a couple here – a couple [of] rifles… Drug trafficking is associated with the other elements of transnational organised crime – money laundering, gun smuggling, homicides unknown, and unsolvable in many instances, and a general decline in law and order in any environment where it takes over. We don’t want to get to that place,” the Home Affairs Minister posited.
Benn further outlined the need for members of communities in Guyana’s hinterland to be vigilant of illegal activities around them and urged that they work with the government as efforts continue to prevent drug trade within the country and through its maritime space.
The minister suspected that while the cocaine found was part of a foreign drug trade network, there locals could’ve been involved.
“Certainly, [a narcotic] operation of this kind couldn’t have been done without some local help but of course, we think that this is a major operation being done by persons from overseas, well neighbouring countries, and the investigations are underway. There is a lot of dots and information that has to be looked at and shared to come back on to collate and so we’ll get better answers as this goes forward over the next few weeks,” Benn noted.
Meanwhile, an official from the local DEA office in Georgetown believes this drug find is not just one of the biggest in Guyana but probably in the region. He noted that the packaging of the narcotics suggests that it would’ve likely been transported via the sea/ocean.
“What I can tell you is that most of these drugs go to Europe onboard vessels and that’s why they’re packaged the way they are and it tells you whose drug they are and the amount in each package,” stated the DEA official, who had been working in the Guyana Government for more than a year to combat drug trade here.
Meanwhile, acting Chief-of-Defence-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Colonel Sheldon Howell related that this latest cocaine seizure is indicative of months and years of relationship-building, collaboration and intelligence-sharing among all the agencies responsible for drug trafficking and illicit trafficking.
“We support in special operations and with logistics in terms of the aerial transport… [This success] means that we have to continue working and we have to continue investing in capacity building both in human capital and in equipment,” the GDF official noted.
Saturday’s drug bust highlighted CANU and the Government’s unwavering commitment to combating the narcotics trade in Guyana and collaborating with international partners. CANU has been leading Guyana’s anti-narcotics efforts, resulting in previous seizures of aircraft, and semi-submersibles, and the arrests of high-profile drug traffickers. (G-8)