$6M cocaine bribery scandal… Cash recovered from homes of implicated cops

Sep 26, 2015 News

Police have recovered a fraction of the $6M that drug dealers allegedly gave an Assistant Superintendent and some of his junior colleagues to avoid prosecution, after a massive cocaine find.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said that ranks conducting the investigation returned to Berbice yesterday and that “a small quantity of notes” was recovered.
Kaieteur News understands that the homes of the implicated ranks were searched and that about $300,000 was recovered.
A source said that all the implicated ranks are in custody. Assistant Superintendent of Police, Terrence Browne, who is at the centre of the scandal, was reportedly escorted back to Berbice yesterday to assist the investigators.
A Subordinate Officer and three Constables, including one female, are also under close arrest as the investigations continue.
The illegal transaction reportedly occurred after some police ranks seized a quantity of cocaine from a minibus travelling along the Corentyne Highway, a little over two weeks ago.
It is alleged that one officer and four junior ranks accepted a large sum of money to forego prosecuting the cocaine traffickers.
Kaieteur News understands that while two ranks have reportedly confessed to the scheme, the others involved are maintaining their innocence.
It is alleged that the ranks were on roadblock duties at Whim on the Corentyne Coast when they stopped a minibus that was transporting a large quantity of cocaine reportedly worth a whopping $18M along with an undisclosed quantity of cash.
According to information the police had been tipped off about the vehicle, which would usually transport large quantities of cocaine, guns and cash along the Corentyne highway.
Three persons were in the bus at the time and they were detained. But instead of taking them into the police station, the ranks began negotiating with the suspects.
Initially, a sum of $2M was offered on the spot, but this was refused by the ranks.
A source in Berbice told Kaieteur News that after intercepting the cocaine, the ranks drove to the nearby police station where they dropped off a female colleague who was with them.
Following further negotiations a deal of $6M was agreed.
Once the money was handed over, the ranks allowed the occupants of the bus to go with their drugs to neighbouring Suriname.
They then returned to the station where they split up the cash, giving a portion to the officer as “hush money”.
There are varying accounts of how the matter came out. According to one source, one of the ranks on the patrol was not satisfied with the amount of money that he received and decided to squeal.
Another version is that after word of the transaction began to float around, a rank who heard of it contacted the Acting Commander, who immediately launched an investigation and ordered that the ranks be placed under close arrest.
Yet another version is that the informant who had tipped off the police was promised $300,000. However, after the deal was done the informant did not get the promised amount and he spilled the beans.
This newspaper understands that investigators are monitoring two known local drug dealers who they say were involved in the transaction.
A police source said that it is unlikely that any charges will be laid against the drug pushers, since there will be no physical evidence to link them with what transpired at the roadblock.

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$6M cocaine bribery scandal… Cash recovered from homes of implicated cops

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