GEORGETOWN: The Guyana Revenue Authority said that the cocaine bearing ship DeltaDiep was fined $12M and allowed to leave with its crew.
The Cypriot vessel, M/V DeltaDiep that was detained following the discovery of 185 packages of cocaine in a 40ft flat rack container on January 6 has been released after the fine of G$12M (US$60,000) was paid to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The fine was levied by the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Mr. Khurshid Sattaur, pursuant to the provisions made under Section 224 – 226 _of the Customs Act Chapter 82:01 in lieu of the forfeiture which took effect on January 9, by way of a Notice of Seizure on account of the narcotics found on board the vessel.
The MV Deltadiep was represented by the law firm of Cameron & Shepherd who represented the Owners and Insurers of the vessel. The fine was negotiated with Cameron & Shepherd during one week of discussions and was finally resolved and based on the precedent of the MV CFS Palamedes. This vessel was discovered in 2007 with 300 kg of cocaine. It was fined $15 million. The Director of Public Prosecutions recommended no prosecutions.
The GRA had initially reported that one hundred and eighty five (185) packages (192.420 kg) of cocaine unearthed from the DeltaDiep vessel, which arrived from Suriname, had an approximate value of $800M. However, subsequent information revealed that the packages valued Euros 45,000 (G$2.1B). The ship left the Netherlands via Parimaribo, Suriname then proceeded to Guyana to load bauxite and was scheduled for Belgium.
The packages bore identification marks such as the Rolls Royce, JR, Superman, XX, Playboy, Dolphin and Scissors logos. Following the findings, eleven other flat rack containers were examined however no narcotic drugs were discovered in those containers.
