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Soesdyke sawmill drug bust…CANU says it has strong case against suspects
– file with DPP
Two weeks after the second largest drug bust in Guyana’s history, Customs Anti- Narcotics Unit (CANU) ranks are certain that there is a strong case against the suspects who were apprehended.
The bust occurred at a sawmill on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.
Some of the recovered cocaine neatly packed in hollowed out timber
The matter, which involves the attempt to smuggle some 314 kilograms (692 pounds) of cocaine to Europe in hollowed out timber, in now engaging the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who is expected to advise on the way forward.
Kaieteur News was told that sometime last week, “the very thick case file” was sent to the DPP.
Investigations into the matter have reportedly been completed although it is still unclear who the real owner of the drug is.
CANU however believes that those apprehended are part of the circle, while the kingpins of the operation are yet to be identified.
According to a source, key foreign players would also have to be identified for there to be complete closure to the matter.
Three individuals were identified as being of major interest to the case; a Dutch national, Edgar Boesenach, of Coralita Avenue, Bel Air, a Guyanese, Raymond Ghani, local manager at the Soesdyke sawmill and a second Guyanese man was also identified.
They were all detained by CANU in the initial stages of the investigations.
And following reports that he assisted in transportation of the cocaine, a truck driver was also detained while a forklift operator who is alleged to have packed the drug-filled logs which were found in a container destined for the (Netherlands), was rearrested when his name was called by another suspect.
CANU sources said that the forklift operator appeared to have had fair knowledge about the operation, but had told anti-narcotics ranks less than he actually knew.
Kaieteur News was told that all suspects were subsequently released on self bail but are required to report daily to CANU.
Sources said that investigators had been eyeing the timber company implicated in the bust for some time, since there were irregularities in the way they functioned. The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) also said that CANU had suspicions about the scanning anomalies that were discovered and thus opted to drill one of the logs.
They said the Guyana Forestry Commission had already given the containers which were on the wharf some clearance to be shipped, but the GRA insisted that the lumber be checked again.
The GFC however said that it too noticed irregularities about the Soesdyke-based timber company. In fact, two weeks prior to the drug bust, they said that the sawmill was closed down, because the company allegedly engaged in four illegal shipments of timber.
Investigators however believed that insiders at government agencies played roles in allowing the drugs to pass on the other few suspected occasions.
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