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Ganja-smoking soldiers charged following raid on mining camp
An Officer and four Other Ranks of the Guyana Defence Force have been detained in relation to their alleged involvement in criminal conduct, reportedly committed in the Cuyuni mining district recently.
Commodore Gary Best with the miners at Julian Ross Landing.
This was disclosed in a GDF press release following a visit to the area by Chief of Staff Commodore Gary Best, in the wake of allegations that a group of rogues soldiers from the army base at Eteringbang had carried out an authorized raid two Fridays ago.
The arrests bring the GDF closer to instituting court martial proceedings against the soldiers after they were positively identified by miners as being present and entering the mining camps.
The five were escorted by GDF investigators and brought to Camp Ayanganna yesterday.
“The officer and ranks are currently detained in Camp Ayanganna where they were charged with military offences. They appeared before a Commanding Officer and were remanded for a Summary of Evidence with a view to Court Martial proceedings. At this time the Guyana Defence Force has sufficient evidence to charge the ranks under military law.”
Prior to his visit, the Chief of Staff had ordered an investigation into the incident. The probe was followed by a commission of inquiry into the administrative breaches at the army Eteringbang Base.
The GDF in a press release issued on Friday, said that the miners and their support staff in the community have cooperated with GDF in its investigations “to the extent that some have identified the GDF officer and soldiers as having been at the Julian Ross Landing, where they allegedly conducted criminal acts.”
“The inquiry into the recently reported alleged robbing of mining camps by a group of soldiers continues and a report is expected to be submitted to the Chief of Staff shortly,” the GDF statement said.
On Friday Commodore Best met with a group of miners at the Julian Ross Landing in the Cuyuni. He also visited Guyana Goldfields at Aurora.
In discussions with the miners about what acts transpired in the alleged raid by the soldiers, Commodore Best emphasized the need for the miners to come forward and identify the soldiers who were allegedly engaged in the act.
“Once we have evidence that the soldiers came here and went to the backdam and robbed the miners, I will ensure that they are charged and put before the court; and if they have to end up in prison, then they will end up in prison,” he said.
“A crime is a crime.”
Reiterating that the purpose of his visit was to ensure that justice was served, he declared to the group of Guyanese and Brazilian miners that if they did not act to identify the men and have them brought to justice, then it could lead to a continuance of such behavior and the thwarting of justice.
Best reassured the miners that coming forward to identify the alleged wrongdoers could not lead to any form of retribution since the alleged perpetrators would, if found culpable, no longer be posted to that area since they would be locked away.
He indicated that bringing the soldiers to justice will send a signal to other ranks in the Guyana Defence Force that such behavior has serious consequences and that there was no way it would be allowed to continue.
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