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Fiery administrative meeting links senior cops to drug dealers
-two senior officers exposed
By Dale Andrews
Damning evidence of links between senior police officers and elements in the local illegal drug circuit surfaced last week during a high level administrative meeting of the Force.
Allegations of the close association of a Senior Superintendent and an Assistant Superintendent of Police with members of drug cartels were leveled by an Assistant Commissioner, leading to the temporary resignation of one of the officers involved.
Police Commissioner Henry Greene
This newspaper was reliably informed that Assistant Commissioner Steve Merai who himself is no stranger to controversy had made the revelations at a meeting chaired by Commissioner Henry Greene and attended by Divisional Commanders and other Heads of Departments.
Those in attendance were in awe at what transpired with one senior officer telling this newspaper that it was the first time that a confrontation like that had taken place at a force admin meeting.
The exchange brought to the fore, the alleged infiltration of the Guyana police force by drug dealers; allegations that are not new.
In fact, the Commissioner of Police himself has been tainted by allegations that he benefitted from the proceeds of the drug trade, for which his American visa was revoked.
With regards to Assistant Commissioner Merai, a recording had surfaced with what was purported to be his voice making demands in what was suspected to be an extortion matter.
An investigation was launched but the other person involved declined to give evidence in the matter.
Kaieteur News understands that it all started when the Commissioner was questioned about his knowledge of the alleged connection between a top ranking officer of the Tactical Services Unit, his Personal Assistant, and persons of questionable character.
The Commissioner was reportedly stunned by the query which was made by Assistant Commissioner Merai and responded that he was unaware of such connections.
This newspaper learnt that Merai then proceeded to outline evidence of his allegations, pointing to the vehicles that the officers in question were driving.
In the case of the Personal Assistant to the Commissioner, Merai disclosed that the officer was driving a $30M Toyota Fortuna, which he claimed belonged to a female who has links to the underworld.
He even pointed out the vehicle which was parked in the Police Headquarters compound, Eve Leary.
The officer in question was summoned and he reportedly admitted his involvement with the woman.
Assistant Commissioner Steve Merai
This reportedly caught the Commissioner off guard and he immediately ordered the officer’s transfer to an interior location.
This newspaper understands that the officer immediately tendered his resignation only to rescind it a few days later and has now been posted to Lethem.
The question that arose at the meeting was, how was the Commissioner not aware of the relationship between his personal assistant and a person who is well known in the drug underworld, especially since the officer was seen driving the person’s vehicle into the police compound for several months.
This newspaper understands that Commissioner Greene had seen the couple together on several occasions.
A senior government official, when contacted, indicated that he had been hearing such reports for a while and expressed satisfaction that the force had finally taken some action in the matter.
However, a senior police official who wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons told this newspaper that sending the officer to a location like Lethem is like a reward.
“This man was the commissioner’s PAC by day and another person by night,” one officer told this newspaper.
The situation is similar to recent revelations in Trinidad and Tobago where it was alleged that the driver of a senior police officer in that country had facilitated the movement of drugs for drug traffickers.
With regards to the other senior officer at Eve Leary, Merai disclosed that the officer was in possession of a BMW that was reportedly the property of another drug dealer.
Kaieteur News understands that the Commissioner again demanded the evidence from Merai who immediately referred to the vehicle which was also parked in the police headquarters compound at the time.
Ironically, the officer in question was at the said meeting where the revelations were being made and he was immediately questioned about the ownership of the luxury sports car.
He reportedly claimed that he was unaware that the owner was linked to the drug trade.
Immediately the Commissioner ordered that both the BMW and the Toyota Fortuna be removed from the compound.
But strangely, it was reported that the Commissioner had spoken to the officer before about the said vehicle and he persisted in taking it into the compound.
Allegations of devious characters entering Police Headquarters to play football every Sunday on the TSU tarmac, under the protection of the officer, were also leveled.
He was however just given a slap on the wrists which amounted to a warning, a move that did not go down well with a number of officers.
“He should have been out of uniform pending an investigation,” one of his colleagues told Kaieteur News.
The police officer claimed that since the TSU official is actually in charge of about 400 ranks, as well as most of the force’s arms and ammunition, he is responsible for the security of the police headquarters, which has obviously been compromised.
Merai’s revelations reportedly irked the commissioner, who warned him that he was making reckless statements.
But the assistant commissioner responded by providing evidence to support his allegations and even threatened to take the matter to higher authorities.
According to a source, Merai was asked why he chose to reveal the information that he had in his possession at that forum when he could have easily reported it to the crime chief or the head of the police office of professional responsibility.
It was then that the question of trust arose.
“Merai is in Berbice and these people are seeing these vehicles in the compound every day; it should have been looked at before,” one senior officer who was at the meeting told this newspaper.
Kaieteur News also understands that ranks on patrol duty are instructed that they are not to stop the vehicles in question whenever they encounter them on the road regardless of who is driving them.
This newspaper repeatedly tried to contact the Commissioner of Police but was unsuccessful.
Several calls were made to his cell phone all to no avail.
Officer Merai when contacted dismissed this newspaper saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The revelations in this article are bound to ruffle some feathers, especially since the Commissioner had expressed concern over leakages of confidential discussions to the media.
A few months ago Commissioner Greene banned his Commanders and other senior officers from communicating with the media, claiming that the Force was compelled to restructure the way it was disseminating information to the public.
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Anyone really surprised at this article? I hope all is exposed very soon and persons get arrested big to small for their crimes.
LOL, LOL!! It’s a long time since I laff so ‘hard-hard’, LOL.
Henry (de-Yellow) bai! I smell a set-up… either you being hung-out-to-dry in disgrace and without a pension.
OR…
Somebody want to tek your place, ambition holds no boundaries.
With sarcasm aside… the antecedent consequence of CORRUPTION. If the issues portrayed weren’t so serious for Guyana and Guyanese in the eyes of the world…
i must coment the force for taking off the animals off the road ways. A little more effort from the force can be put in to keep them alive. come on at least have water in the pound.
what a story when mouth open, the back biting will start now everybody will throw out everybody dutty linen , but what amazed me is the person who is throwing the first punce the man with the most dirt on his linen something is wrong here who playing jokes on who LOL.
Bam Bam water bam bam .mouth open story jump out
Isn’t there a novel with the title, “When thieves fall out”?…
I like this one.
Ye that are without sin cast the first stone…I rest my case..
As far as I am concern Mr. Merai should shut his mouth because he should have been transfered in the bush or get kick out the Police Force, he is no difference with the top ranking cops because if the person that declined to give evidence in his case had come forward he would have been a goner and that was direct evidence against him other than the allegations made that he made against the ranks because their connections never been convicted nor persons refuse to give evidence in their case, so shut up Merai. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
O boy soon to be commissioner Steve Meria trying to clean houes , Look if he have the evidence to back up what he is saying go for it . When i wrote about a officer in charge driving a well known drug dealer car that other news paper deleted my comment . Paul you reading this .
2 late shall be the cry
hehehe! the whole police force is tainted by the drug trade, from the top to the bottom! that is why they can’t seem to put a dent in the criminal activities taking place!
Henery i think this one is going to take you down . De boss man is going to take Steve word over your word any day because it looks like Steve got evideace . But when them boys had evidence that would make Steve look bad he ran away to Canada , came back when the heat was low today he is de Officer in charge of Berbice . Steve if you have de evidence take all of them down .
these people should be taken out of the force not transfer to other location and look where lethem now that officer will be more in the drug trade from brazil to georgetown the drugs will pass more freely what a shame………
Well People mouth open story jump out. I bet the commissioner hearth is aching because the hint of bamidai that mek quashiba take notice. It was only time for these revelations by senior officers against each other to start to come to light, and there will be more, and I sincerely hope that none of them start to turn up dead.
Commissioner Green if your eyes are blind it’s time for you to quit before you get got.
Where the hell is the President and Prime Minister? This is hugh and all Commissioner Greene did is Reward one of the by sending him to Lethem, the drug gate way and he gave the other one a warning. This his gross misconduct on the Commissioner part and he should resign now especially with his recent visa being revoked by the American. This President seems to be over partying in New York whilst high office in his government is running riot with corruption. This commissioner need to go and should have gone along time ago. The other accused should be suspended and held under house arrest and charged. The vehicle should be seized under investigation as well as there assets.
Do your Job PPP/C leaders, President etc. Stop this corruptions that is taking over the country. The person who exposed this has put his live at risk here, so do your job and show leadership. Lead from the front and don’t find yourself being lead.
Steve life is never at risk in Guyana . Looks like you don’t know the history of Steve Meria as a member of the GPF . If you read any of my comments over the years on Steve you can tell i am not a fan of his , but i think he is doing the right thing . Steve unlike some other supporters this is your chance to do something good for your Country skin them all up .
Meerai is as guilty as those exposed, All are involved from top to bottom!
Things are indeed falling apart….Green is hung up by his ‘%#2&%’ he can’t even cough…….definitely not the powerful young officer I did a course with in the 80’s.
Customs officer on WCD is keeping a late model LAND ROVER for a well known businessman who own cellphone stores in V/Hoop and in GT.
so this is not anything strange.
dear fellow guyanese , mr Merai reminds me of a old time saying that goes like this
” mr pot calling mr kettle black ” but anyway it`s past overdue for something like this revelation here even though most guyanese already know about these guys since the days of roger khan and his gang plus the most shocking part of this situation is the response from mr green , imagine his way of dealing with corruption is to transfer these guys to a new location whereby they can practice their form of policing in other places and even teach other ranks how to do it because if you get catch dont worry you will just be transfered , after the next election we will see many more revelation , especially if it goes like we hope it will , cant wait to hear what mr luncheon have to say about this disgraceful situation.
You are so correct but that is the way in which the Guyana Police Force conducts business. One will expect, that if there is enough evidence to support corruption of any member of the Guyana police force and that includes the commissioner, he/she must be charged and placed before the court. When a corrupted officer is transferred to another division, he/she takes with him all the corrupted practices and will contaminate others or even aggravate existing corrupt situation. It is unfortunate, that transfer is viewed as punishment for dishonest acts by individuals who have sworn to “serve and protect“. Is there any wonder why the deteriorating criminal situation nationally is continually escalating? Finally, who is watching the police? I am sure it is not the commissioner but all readers can make their guess…
Corruption goes even higher in the Govt.
Go AC Merai. What we need are honest people in the rotten police force.
Mr. Greene is pretending not to know anything. He is either corrupted or incompetent. Either way, he should be forced to leave office… fired/dismissed/sent packing. Take your pick.
Mr Rohee had said that he will deal with the drug lords, it is time that he do something.
I will try this again, when you don’t pay your civil servants well they will turn a blind eye to crime and become part of it. It happens the world over. Started under the P.N.C continues under the P.P.P that is a fact.
I thought a police force is there to maintain order, prevent crime and enforce the law. Sadly this Group of Professional Fools (GPF) is proving me wrong.
wow!! De only ting leff now is fuh de bodies to start turning up dead!!
Who is gun be de fus one? Green or Merai?? Wow!!
As a former policeman i am quit sure that the commissioner is aware. There is nothing that happen in Eve leary compound that the commissioner is unaware. What happen with all those socall investigators (eg. Mc lall) at office of professional responability are they sleeping.
Steve Merai has demonstrated how astute he is.
So far he has done things that lesser mortals dare not and has
won on all accounts.
I wish him well despite what the oldsters like to say and say again…
‘ moon does run till day catch um’.
So be it.
I hope the public is not being fooled by Mr. Merai’s actions. He has always been aman linked to confusion and likes to be at the forefront of things. Remember when he went to Canada? Remember when he returned? If all the revelations are true why were they only brought into the public domain when they did? Because it is a plot to embarrass somebody and to make himself more qualify for the position he seeks. Why didn’t he do this before? Because it’s an election year and they need advantages. On the other hand, if there are persons who are serious about terminating corruptio within the force we welcome it. Mr. Steve Merai is far from being on such person. I just wonder how long it will take before his closet is opened again and his dirty clothes are spotted by the clearners?
Merai is a smart guy…but he got the link..so he knows all the details!! hmmmm..
Commissioner Merai…hmmmmm
If Guyana had an Integrity Commission nothing like Henry Green or Merai would have been in Police Force to this day…all of them are tainted..so Merai maybe has a hidden agenda so he talking up now..but look out for the backlash Henry wont take it lightly..he will expose Merai all of them have dirt on each other..talk half leff half!!
C’om on, do they think guyanese people are stupid, these revelations are not surprising, the only difference is that its now official, ita a known fact that officers (higher ups) are involved in illegal activities. the us authorities knows it.
Corruption! Corruption!