Police, immigration officers under probe TIP scheme in Region 9

An investigation has been initiated into a report accusing Police and immigration officers operating along the Lethem Trail and in Lethem, Region Nine, of receiving payments to facilitate the movement of foreign nationals.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Thursday stated that, given the serious nature of the allegations, the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) has been ordered to immediately launch an investigation to determine the circumstances and veracity of the claims made in the social media post.
Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken has made it clear that corruption and misconduct have no place in the GPF, and that no rank will be shielded where evidence establishes wrongdoing.
He stressed that any member of the force found to have acted unlawfully or in breach of established regulations will be dealt with condignly in accordance with the law and established disciplinary procedures.
Back in April, a late-night anti-trafficking operation conducted at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, uncovered 17 Venezuelan nationals suspected to have been trafficked.
The exercise was carried out following reports of suspected Trafficking in Persons (TIP) activity at a building in the area.
Investigators had reported that the individuals were screened for indicators of human trafficking, but no evidence of trafficking in persons was found. The women were subsequently allowed to leave, and officials confirmed that the investigation has concluded with no further action at this time.
Guyana maintained a Tier One ranking for its response to human trafficking in the 2025 TIP Report by the United States Department of State.
The US TIP Report is an annual assessment that ranks countries based on their efforts to combat human trafficking. The ranking is divided into four tiers: Tier One, Tier Two, Tier Two Watch List, and Tier Three.
The Tier One placement marks the ninth consecutive year that Guyana has demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to combat TIP, the Home Affairs Ministry noted.
Guyana was one of only two Caribbean countries listed in the Tier One status, the Bahamas being the other.
According to the report, the Government in 2024 increased protection efforts. This included the Government identifying 416 victims and NGOs identifying two victims, an increase when compared with identifying 407 trafficking victims in 2023. Meanwhile, the Government screened 389 potential victims among individuals in commercial sex, an increase compared with 281 potential victims screened in 2023.
In 2024, the Government operated and fully funded four shelters for adults with a total capacity of 80 and one shelter for children with a capacity for eight child victims of crime, including trafficking.
The Government also operated three 24/7 hotlines to report human trafficking, which included two in English and one in Spanish. The hotlines received 87 calls, of which 22 led to the identification of victims, their referral to care, and criminal investigations of traffickers; this compares with an unknown number of calls in 2023, of which 39 led to further action.
The report commended the passage of the 2023 Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill before the National Assembly, which repealed the earlier Combating Trafficking in Persons Act of 2005, criminalised sex trafficking and labour trafficking and prescribed penalties of five years to life imprisonment.