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Nine in custody after gunmen hit Guyana Stockfeeds for $$M
The Guyana Stockfeeds Limited office which was robbed
– Shotgun, portion of cash recovered, getaway vehicles impounded
Around 13:15 hours yesterday six men, two armed with shotguns and the others with handguns, invaded Guyana Stockfeeds Limited at Farm, East Bank Demerara, and made off with some $10.6M, along with personal cash, cell phones and other valuables from the employees, and a handgun.
Reports are that the men made their way into the business premises and held up. Lorraine Adams, the private security guard on duty. They relieved Adams of her service revolver, a .38 Taurus, and proceeded to the main office.
The gang then held accounts clerk Seepaul Khaloo and seven other employees at gunpoint, and demanded that they hand over the money that was in the office.
They were reportedly handed six deposit bags containing a total of $10,582,600 which had been prepared to be taken to a bank. Several personal items of the staffers were also grabbed by the perpetrators. The men then attempted to shoot out the lock of a grilled door to facilitate a hasty retreat. However, after that failed to provide a satisfactory gap, the men were forced to jump through a small opening at the top of the door. An eyewitness who was sitting outside of the compound recounted what he saw.
“One of them had a beretta, and they handcuff the guard at the gate. They then take away the fat security girl gun…then when they done rob the place, they force their way through the side grill like Mickey Mouse, they dash the bag with money through the upper part of the grilled doorway and they force themselves through and beat out.” The eyewitness explained that the armed gang then ran out of the compound and continued to run towards the roadside where they got into a getaway car and drove off.
“The men were brazen and did not care who see them, they didn’t get any opposition at all, everybody just left in shock,” the eyewitness said.
But there was one thing that the bandits did not cater for, the quick action of law enforcement. Police anti-crime patrols were alerted through their radio network and roadblocks were established at strategic locations. There was information that the men had fled into the Grove/Diamond area on the East Bank of Demerara, in two vehicles, a Toyota Raum and a Toyota Allion. The two vehicles were reportedly found in Grove.
According to a source close to the investigations, from all indications the men were in the process of splitting the booty and going their separate ways when the police moved in.
This newspaper understands that almost $2M was found on two men who were heading towards the Diamond Sea Dam, where according to police, four suspects were arrested.
Further investigations resulted in the arrest of a woman at Grove Housing Scheme, EBD, whose motor vehicle, PMM 5295, has also been detained by the police, and the arrest of two other men at Grove Housing Scheme.
The police later recovered another sum of money in a yard at Cinema Street, Diamond, and arrested two more men who were found hiding among some bush in a swampy area at Diamond.
The motor car suspected to have been used by the perpetrators in their getaway after the robbery, PMM 9668, was found abandoned on the roadway at School Street, Diamond Housing Scheme. A 12-gauge pump action shotgun along with four matching cartridges and a laptop computer were recovered by the police in the vehicle.
It is believed that the mastermind of the robbery made good his escape with the bulk of the booty.
Up to press time, the nine persons were in police custody and the two suspected getaway vehicles impounded.
Also this newspaper was told that efforts were being made to provide footage from the company’s surveillance camera for perusal by the police.
An employee of the company told this newspaper that from all indications the gunmen had knowledge of the entity’s operations and as such had carefully planned their execution of the attack. According to reports, Thursday is the only day baby chicks are sold at the company thus attracting a large number of customers from around the country. In addition to that, there is the regular feed sale for the day.
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