Police drug links report completed

Oct 14, 2011 News

– Home Affairs Minister in receipt of copy

Crime Chief Seelall Persaud has completed a report on the investigations into allegations of links between

Assistant Commissioner Steve Merai

police officers and drug dealers.
The Crime Chief was mandated to investigate the allegations made by Assistant Commissioner Steve Merai that some senior officers of the Force, including the Personal Assistant to the Commissioner, were closely linked to known drug dealers.
Yesterday, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee indicated that he had received the report on the investigations and will be studying it over the next few days.
Merai had alleged that the officers’ links to persons in the drug underworld were so close that they were even driving expensive vehicles that belonged to the drug dealers.
The officers in their defence had claimed that they had borrowed the vehicles since theirs were undergoing repairs and they were unaware that the owners of the vehicles they were driving were drug dealers. One of the officers has since resigned from the Force.
Merai during his verbal exchanges with Commissioner of Police Henry Greene had also revealed that certain elements of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), namely the ‘Black Clothes’ anti-crime squads, are linked to certain drug blocks in the city and its environs.
The Assistant Commissioner, who is currently the Commander of the Berbice Division, explained to the Commissioner that he was in receipt of information that some of the squads are engaged in busting certain drug dealers and using the proceeds to enrich drug blocks that they are in association with.
Kaieteur News understands that he provided the meeting with the names of two TSU ranks who are said to be involved in this practice.
However, he had initially declined to cooperate with local investigators, citing a lack of confidence, prompting Commissioner Greene to officially write to him, requesting that he provide evidence to support his allegations.

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee

Merai had already indicated that he was not too comfortable with providing evidence to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud and head of the police Office of Professional Responsibility Mohamed Jameer, both of whom he had accused of initially turning a blind eye on the matter.
Merai had provided some evidence during the acrimonious meeting when the allegations were first made, but these were dismissed by Commissioner Greene as reckless statements.
Merai eventually relented and cooperated with investigators on the issue.
Following the revelations which were described as very explosive, the Home Affairs Minister had disclosed that he was having “serious discussions” with Police Commissioner Henry Greene on the matter.
“I think that in any part of the world where allegations of a similar nature are raised, the political person that is responsible would be concerned. It is not something that we take lightly,” Rohee emphasized.
The Home Affairs Minister stated that he had heard the allegations before, but at the time, they were based on anecdotal comments.
“What we see now is that they are actually in print… allegations made by a member of the force itself against colleagues in the force, and I think that this adds a greater degree of seriousness to the matter,” Rohee had stressed.
Opposition leaders had also expressed concern over the matter and had called for an independent investigation by international experts.
Presidential candidate of the Alliance for Change Khemraj Ramjattan had indicated that the United States State Department has a wealth of information on local cops who are linked to the drug trade.
“We have been speaking to the State Department officials who have indicated to us that they have been giving the information to the Government of Guyana. The Government of Guyana, however, has been telling the people that they have not been getting the information,” Ramjattan stated.
A recent US State Department report had pointed to massive corruption within the Guyana Police Force and overall government.
“Many police are reportedly paid off by criminal elements and are alleged to work with the criminals by either assisting or protecting them,” the report had stated.
Ramjatttan had also issued a call for the immediate resignation of the Home Affairs Minister and the Police Commissioner in light of the Merai allegations, which he described as highly credible.

Crime Chief Seelall Persaud

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) called for the immediate interdiction from duty of all police officers who are alleged to have illegal relations with narco-traffickers, and for the immediate establishment of an independent and impartial inquiry.
The partnership’s Presidential Candidate, David Granger, opined that the police cannot investigate themselves through their Office of Professional Responsibility and Complaints Authority.
The former army head made it clear that Guyanese have long since lost confidence in the police force, and not only from these recent allegations.