Latest update November 27th, 2024 12:03 AM
After WikiLeaks Revelations…Police Commissioner should resign – AFC
The AFC has called for the Commissioner of Police to instantly resign following the launch of an independent forensic inquiry into the drug infiltration of the police force.
This notion was expressed by AFC Executive Member Gerhard Ramsaroop at the party’s recent weekly press briefing at its Fourth Street headquarters yesterday.
Ramsaroop said that the AFC is seriously alarmed and concerned at the sensational bouts of information being divulged via the WikiLeaks website.
Gerhard Ramsaroop
He said that one of the most notable issues was the information concerning the narco-connection of Police Chief Henry Greene.
A July 17, 2006 cable, sent by former US Embassy Charge d’Affaires, Michael Thomas, noted that then Ambassador Roland Bullen, in a meeting with Dr Roger Luncheon, indicated that Greene’s name appeared repeatedly in reporting by various US government agencies in connection with criminal activities.
Subsequently, the DEA informed Bullen that it had developed “specific, reliable information that documented continuing payoffs by narco-traffickers to Greene.”
Thomas also noted that the DEA provided language for him to use in informing President Jagdeo: “US law enforcement has reliable reports from multiple sources that Henry Greene has benefited from, and continues to benefit from, the proceeds of drug trafficking.”
He said the AFC submits that such shocking information has to be taken in conjunction with the position adopted only some weeks ago by Berbice Commander Steve Merai to the very same effect that the police force is indeed infiltrated by the narco trade.
Adding that such revelations bring to the fore the vulnerability of the Guyanese people to the narco trade as well as to the dark criminal underworld, Ramsaroop said that Green’s recent call for “proof” of drug connections is quite ridiculous as only a totally independent inquiry can unearth such information.
The AFC submits that it is only out of such enquiry that citizens will be able to chart a course out of the present morass.
Further, in a cable dispatched on May 24, 2006 to, among others, the US Secretary of State, DEA Headquarters in Washington Bullen stated “The level of narco-trafficking influence on the political, judicial and economic systems in Guyana creates ripe conditions for the emergence of a narco-state.”
In an earlier cable dated January 6, 2006, Bullen noted that there has been talk about setting up a DEA office here since 1999 and questioned the Guyana government’s sincerity in wanting one. “The current stumbling block is the GoG’s inability or reluctance to give approval for basic logistical details. Post’s position remains the same – the USG is ready to work with and advise the GoG as soon as the GoG is fully prepared to move forward in its fight against narco-trafficking.”
Describing the narco-situation in Guyana as “severe”, he said the DEA could work more effectively to accomplish the critical counter-narcotics objectives and provide more sustained support to local law enforcement agencies in Guyana.
The DEA was expected to establish a vetted counter-narcotics unit in Guyana but the ambassador told the Secretary of State that he was worried that it could become infected by corruption. “An important challenge facing this unit is the pervasive corruption in the country, which has undermined previous Guyanese counter-narcotics initiatives,” he said, adding that establishing a DEA office will allow close and constant monitoring of the vetted unit to help alleviate this problem.”
Ramsaroop said that such revelations highlight the fact that Jagdeo’s and the PPP’s perpetual bemoaning the lack of US and other support and intelligence were all a sham.
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