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Gold smuggling, illegal activities…US intelligence helps to zero in on local players – US Chargé d’ Affaires
Guyana’s collaboration with the US appears to be bearing fruits, with significant intelligence gathered over the last year about illegal activities and the individuals involved.
US Chargé d’ Affaires, Bryan Hunt
According to Chargé d’ Affaires of the US Embassy, Bryan Hunt, over the last 18 months, intelligence was shared with local authorities.
The US has especially been “watching” closely the movement of cash, gold and illegal drugs over the borders of Guyana.
The embassy official was yesterday speaking during an exclusive interview with Kaieteur News.
The close US collaboration involved Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) and the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU).
The latter has made the news recently after a major investigation into a gold smuggling racket was disclosed.
The US, Hunt said, now has a better idea of how the criminal networks are operating and what is being moved.
US authorities would have also been able to zero in on the individuals involved, the official disclosed. The information gathered would have been shared.
With criticisms over the years about Guyana’s capacity and will to tackle the trafficking of illicit goods and money laundering, the confirmation of the increased level of collaboration would spell good news for the new administration which has vowed to stamp out corruption, tax evasion and money laundering.
SOCU itself has been criticized because of its limited capacity.
According to Hunt, the US has always been concerned about the illegal movement of currency and valuable metal, like gold, to the US.
With the US Customs and Border Protection requiring visitors to declare their items, a significant amount of information was gleaned, allowing for a better tracking of persons suspected to be involved in illegal activities.
Over the last two years, quite a number of drug busts were also made because of the collaboration.
Involved in the US intelligence gathering would have been agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Hunt said that it is difficult to gauge how much money and other items are being smuggled from Guyana as the activities are “subtle”.
Questioned about the cancellation of visas for persons suspected of conducting illegal activities directed at the US, the diplomat would not be specific, but pointed out that once evidence exists that a felony has been committed, the persons involved would become ineligible for a visa or could see one in use being cancelled.
The visa cancellations would also come into play when there is evidence of “moral turpitude”, the Chargé d’ Affaires explained.
Reportedly, the visas of several gold traders and other businessmen were cancelled over the last few years because of suspected illegal activities.
The monitoring of suspected persons does not only happen in the US alone but also in Guyana.
Hunt’s disclosure that the work being done behind the scenes would shed light on the amount of information the US and local authorities would have been gathering in the crime fight.
The gold smuggling racket has especially angered the new administration as hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues have been lost to the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Gold Board.
With the economy facing tough times from the lagging performance of rice and sugar, the gold smuggling issue has been a troubling one.
While a significant amount of gold has been going to the US, it is believed that the majority was making its way to neighbouring Suriname and to a lesser extent, Brazil.
It is estimated that between 10,000 ounces and 15,000 ounces of gold is being smuggled out weekly.
Last year gold production fell by 100,000 ounces to just under 400,000 ounces.
Gold earning fell from over US$700M in 2013, to over US$400M last year.
This year, gold declaration is also showing a dismal performance, recording a 30 percent drop compared to last year.
Law enforcement officials have been zeroing on especially the activities occurring at the Ogle and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. Several staffers were arrested over recent years for wrongdoings.
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