Guyana still looks to establish local DEA Office - Ramotar

Guyana still looks to establish local DEA Office – Ramotar

Mar 26, 2012 News

The Guyana Government’s position on establishing a local US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Office has not changed and the country is still open to the option.
This is according to Head of State Donald Ramotar, who during a recent press engagement reported on his participation at the recently concluded 23rd Intercessional Heads of Government Meeting of CARICOM Leaders in Paramaribo, Suriname.

Head of State Donald Ramotar

At that forum, Ramotar said that the Head had centered its attention on security in the Region where there would be an increased collaboration between the various security agencies.
The DEA is a United States Department of Justice law enforcement agency tasked with controlling the growth of narco-trade in the US and assists developing countries with tackling the drug scourge.
In 2009, then President Bharrat Jagdeo had acknowledged that there is a critical need for radar coverage of the country’s jungles, noting that the number of illegal airstrips is increasing but to date the US’s offer to establish a DEA Office locally has never been taken up.
In 2006, then U.S. Ambassador to Guyana Ronald Bullen called for a DEA office to be set up with urgency, noting that the drug trade in Guyana was expanding rapidly.
He believed that having the DEA means the country would be better able to fight drug trafficking.
In September last Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon said he believes the interest in having the office here will be “rekindled.”
This was following the appointment of Brent Hardt as US Ambassador to Guyana following a two year hiatus of the post being vacant due to John Jones’ ill health.
“We haven’t had an Ambassador in about two years. Maybe we’re reading too much in such a step but I want to believe that between Wikileaks and the airing of differences and opinions about this issue the presence of an Ambassador again, the interest would be rekindled,” he said.
Jones’ predecessor, Roland Bullen, in 2006 had called for the urgent set up of a DEA office in Guyana as revealed by embassy cables released by whistleblower site Wikileaks. At the time, the Ambassador had said that Guyana was heading for narco-statehood.
“Post requests the formal establishment of a DEA office at Embassy Georgetown. Guyana is well on its way to narco-statehood — a prospect that poses a real threat to U.S. interests,” said Bullen.
The cable was dispatched on May 24, 2006 to, among others, the US Secretary of State, DEA Headquarters in Washington. “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,” he told his principals as well as counterparts in Trinidad, Suriname and Venezuela.
The American envoy believed that a DEA presence in Guyana would significantly improve the US government’s ability to fight drug trafficking in Guyana.
Other cables also noted the rise of convicted drug dealer Roger Khan and the possible tainting of government officials by the narco-trade, specifically Police Commissioner Henry Greene whose US visa was revoked based on information gathered by the DEA.
Greene has denied any drug trade involvement.
Guyana has made several requests for the set up of a DEA office here over the years, with requests dating back as far as 1995. The authorities here have often criticised the US’ slothfulness in rendering security assistance, particularly as it relates to drug interdiction efforts.
Security cooperation appears to be a priority for Ambassador Hardt who in a recent meeting with private sector representatives said the matter had arisen during his meeting with the then President Jagdeo.