NEW YORK: The recent discovery in New York of a large amount of cocaine in shrimp from Guyana has left the revenue body here groping for answers on why its enforcement officers failed to detect it at the port of exit.
Cocaine worth US$12 million ($2.4 billion) was discovered in the shipment of shrimp and US federal agents arrested Guyanese Heeralall Sukdeo in New York. He has since been charged in New York.
Security experts say the discovery of the 268 kilos of cocaine is a further embarrassment for Guyana and exposes the porosity of the various layers of the anti-narcotics fight which has recently been beefed up with assistance from the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
In a statement this afternoon, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) said that the recent discovery in the US has once “again brought to light the level of ingenuity by drug smugglers to utilize concealment methods that at times would require sophisticated detection techniques.
“It has also highlighted the pervasiveness of the narcotics trade and the need for law enforcement officials, particularly the (GRA’s) Customs and Trade Administration to fortify its efforts to monitor incoming and outbound cargo at the wharves, transit sheds and other ports of entry”.
It added that in the interest of revenue protection, the GRA utilizes profiling criteria to determine if cargo is considered high risk and requires random inspections. Examination of cargo it said is also premised on the method of concealment that is being detected.
The GRA said that in keeping with maritime and other requirements, consignments destined for the United Kingdom, Canada and United States are scanned utilizing the stationary and mobile scanners that are available. It is unclear why these scanners failed to detect the cocaine.
It said that its Drug Enforcement Unit has spearheaded and has been successful in major drug busts, including through its active Port Control Unit under the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime programme.
For 2015 alone it said that there were some major busts recorded such as the March 30, discovery of cocaine in shipments of charcoal at Silver Hill, Linden Highway and the January 6 drug bust on a Cypriot vessel, the M/V DeltaDiep, that was destined for Belgium amidst a shipment of bauxite from Guyana.
“These achievements are testimony to Guyana’s bilateral relations with other countries and the GRA’s commitment to its obligations under international maritime regulations which among other things, mandate that exports, particularly container cargo be subject to image scanning”, the revenue body said.
It asserted that in light of the “notably high frequency in the attempts to traffic narcotics in and out of Guyana over many years, the GRA is determined to ensure that its present and future operations effectively tackle the trade and pursue more enforcement activities that help to build confidence while at the same time expose the wrongdoings of those found in breach of the law.”
It said that investigations are continuing into the cocaine discovery. Besides the GRA, the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit and the police are also engaged in the anti-drug fright. No one has yet been charged here over the cocaine though several persons have been questioned.
According to a complaint by U.S. Homeland Security special agent Ryan Varrone unsealed last month in Brooklyn Federal Court, agents secretly removed the coke-filled shipment and tailed the container after it cleared customs on June 15. The container was delivered to an unidentified warehouse in Brooklyn where agents spotted Sukdeo “together with others … organizing and supervising the unloading” of the shipment.
Sukdeo, 59, the owner of Sukdeo Sons Fishing, a shipping company based in Queens, was arrested, but said he was innocent of any wrongdoing. “Sukdeo stated that he was present only in the vicinity of the truck containing the target shipment because he was curious about its contents,” Varrone stated in the complaint.
