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Mafia ties with Guyana were a concoction to make country look bad – Minister Rohee

Jun 17, 2014 News

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee has dismissed allegations that Guyana has ties with the New York Mafia, calling it a “concoction” to make Guyana look bad.
Earlier this year, news had surfaced that more than 20 gangsters were busted in New York for drug trafficking and other offences, with some of the shipments passing through Guyana.
The New York Mafia reportedly conspired with the Italian syndicate to traffic cocaine and heroin stashed in shipments of pineapples, frozen fish and other food. After the news had surfaced, President Donald Ramotar had ordered Rohee to write the US seeking any information that they may have.
Rohee admitted that although Government did receive a response it wasn’t anything tangible. “We did receive something but it wasn’t something of substance” Rohee told the media yesterday. The minister opined that entire allegation might have been a “concoction”.
“People spin the thing to make the country look bad.”
The President has insisted that Guyana must not and will not become a safe haven for criminals.
Following the revelation of the Mafia connection, Opposition Leader David Granger, along with Members of Parliament Joe Harmon and Winston Felix, immediately met with Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Mark Phillips.
Granger had stated that the creation of a link between local narco traffickers and major international drug lords is more than a dangerous development.
According to the Opposition Leader they had asked for the meeting with the Chief of Staff in light of the grave reports about linkages between Guyanese narco traffickers with the Italian mafia. He said that his party felt that it is a situation that requires immediate and forceful reaction by the government.
He believes, too, that the absence of a National Drug Strategy master plan is largely responsible for these types of occurrences.
“There is no valid national drug strategy master plan. It expired in 2009 and the administration appears to be in no hurry to implement a new plan” he said, adding that “there is no justification for the absence of such a plan for five years.”
He believes that there is a linkage between international drug lords and local traffickers and that large amount of drugs are being smuggled in and out of Guyana.
The New York Mafia reportedly conspired with the Italian syndicate to traffic cocaine and heroin stashed in shipments of pineapples, frozen fish and other food.
The shipments traveled through ports in Guyana, where Mexican drug cartel members facilitated deliveries, prosecutors said. The raids targeted a network of drug smuggling that stretched from Guyana to Italy to Malaysia to the United States.
An undercover agent recorded alleged Gambino associate, Franco Lupoi, and others plotting to transport 500 kilograms of cocaine hidden in shipments of frozen fish or pineapples, according to court documents.  Prosecutors found US$7 million worth of cocaine hidden in crates of pineapples and coconut milk.
In September 2012, Lupoi was recorded explaining to an undercover agent that he had contacts in Guyana who could arrange the shipment of cocaine to his contacts in Italy, court records state.

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