Drug fight costs Govt $1B annually

Dec 02, 2010 News

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…expenditure in GDP percentage doubles that of United States

Government’s commitment to fighting the drug-trade was reinforced at the opening ceremony of a two-day National Conference on Narcotics Trafficking at the Grand Coastal Inn, Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara, yesterday.
Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, said that Guyana forms a bridge that facilitates easy access of cocaine from the Andean countries of South America to the Caribbean, where the demand for drugs peaks globally.
As such, drug-trafficking is a major challenge for Guyana.
“It is now common knowledge that the strongest explanation for crime in the wider region in recent years, is narco-trafficking. The people who are involved in moving drugs are very often, the same people who will use the same operation for many other illegal activities,” Minister Rohee said.
He said that profits of the drug trade are being used to support money laundering and terrorism and as such, this provides an additional reason why the drug problem should be tackled from every possible angle.
He noted that the proliferation of drugs in a society affects public health, promotes money laundering though its profit margin, threatens political stability by exacerbating corruption and affects a country’s national security by financing crimes.
In Guyana, Government has been actively fighting to confront the challenges posed by the illegal drug trade.
“Guyana is building appropriate institutional structures and capacities which in no way can be compared with what obtains in the developed countries, who themselves, are often at a loss, in devising effective strategies to deal with drug trafficking and its consequences in the respective societies,” the Home Affairs Minister highlighted.
He added that successful responses to the illicit drug trade, when formulated and implemented, cannot be limited to the national boundaries, but rather it is an international problem that requires an international response.
Government has devised its own conceptual and organisational approach, while taking advantage of relevant external support.
Notably, Guyana has assented to three drug-related treaties that underpin all the operational work of the United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
These include: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol, Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988.Additionally, Government has collaborated with the Governments of Brazil, Suriname and Venezuela to established bilateral mechanism in pursuance of functional cooperation to combat drug trafficking.
Moreover, Guyana has been fully participating at all international events convened to discuss effective ways to fight the proliferation of drugs and other illegal substances.
“The fight against drug trafficking is a costly affair, that often requires the diversion of funds from vital sectors of the economy,” Minister Rohee said.
Approximately US$900,000 is being spent by Government on the national intelligence centre and close circuit television surveillance systems, which will make a
significant contribution in the fight against criminal activities including counter narco-trafficking interventions in Guyana.
This amount is part of the total sum of $900M, spent annually, which is equivalent to 1.9 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Minister emphasised the significance of this sum by comparing it to the $12.7B spent by the US, which amounts to 0.9 percent of that country’s GDP.
“In terms of GDP percentage, Guyana is spending twice as much than the US in the war against drugs,” he noted.
Minister Rohee said that it is the view of Government that there should have been greater multilateral, financial, technical and intelligence cooperation in the implementation of the 2005-2009 National Drug Strategy Master Plan (NDSMP) and the more general fight against drugs in Guyana.
Notwithstanding these limitations however, several programmes under the said NDSMP were successful, implemented under four broad areas including: supply control, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, and institutional and managerial framework.
In addition to several drug busts by the Customs Anti- Narcotic Unit (CANU), the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has also made significant strides in strengthening its approaches to the drug fight.
The Force has eradicated 63 marijuana farms, with 142,656 kilograms of cannabis valued at approximately US$60M.
Additionally, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) with support from the Joint Services Reconnaissance Flights, spent $6.3M in its contribution in the drug fight.
At the administrative level, Government has taken several measures to boost capacity within law enforcement agencies.
These include the allocation of more resources to acquire highly technological equipment and heighten surveillance at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), which is now responsible for counter-drug operations at seaports and wharves across the country.
Measures have also been taken at the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) to prevent smuggling along with the use of ‘sniffer dogs’ and other high level equipment at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri.
Meanwhile, Government continues to utilise and expand polygraphing technology to purge law enforcement agencies of undesirable elements.
All of these interventions were complemented with a strong legislative framework to provide law enforcement agencies with a greater interdiction clout.
These include the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, Interception of Communications Act, the Telecommunications Act, the Money Transfer Agencies Bill, the Plea Bargaining Legislation, The Evidence (Amendment) Act, and The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill.
Regional Coordinator, UNODC, Claudio Santorum said that Guyana is taking a lead in the fight against drug trafficking and organised crimes.
The UNODC on the other will be providing the necessary technical support.
The conference is being held under the theme, “Strengthening and Sustaining the Fight against Drug Trafficking.” (GINA)

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