148 convicted for drug-related offences last year

Jul 28, 2019 News

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Carrying illicit drugs for your personal use or for trafficking can land you a large fine and time in prison, too. In Guyana, it is illegal to supply anyone with drugs or to have your own drugs. It is also illegal to import or export drugs, or to allow a premises, which you own or rent to be used for any drug-related activities among other things.
According to the Guyana Drug Information Network 2018 Annual Report, 539 persons were charged last year for drug trafficking, possession and cultivation. Conviction statistics from the Guyana Prison Service show that 110 persons were convicted for trafficking narcotics, while 38 were convicted for possession of narcotics.
Of the number convicted for possession, 14 were found with marijuana, while five were found to be in possession of cocaine. Moreover, seven were convicted for possession of other narcotics, namely ecstasy, heroin and meth. Nine persons were convicted for possession of drug utensils. Meanwhile, of the 110 persons convicted for trafficking narcotics, 89 of them were for marijuana and 21 were for trafficking cocaine.
Furthermore, the report noted that three persons were convicted for cultivation of marijuana and three persons were convicted for smoking of narcotics. Data for 2018 indicate that the majority of persons, 96 who were convicted for a drug crime were above 25 years old. Two persons were below the age of 20. The two persons were charged with trafficking cocaine and cannabis. Of the persons between the ages of 20-25, the majority were convicted for trafficking cannabis.
Persons convicted have received various punishments as specified in law ranging from six months to four years’ imprisonment. Along with many of the applied punishment, fines are applied totaling three times the value of the narcotic the person was charged for trafficking.
The most served punishment for 2018 was three years’ imprisonment with fine.
According to the report, this punishment was handed down to 59 persons convicted of possession, trafficking and cultivation of various narcotics. This was followed by 24 persons who received six months sentencing plus fines for their crime. This punishment was mostly allotted to 21.
Assessment is only based on 127 convictions as per records received from the Guyana Prison Service for the year 2018 persons convicted of possession of narcotics (15 persons).
The reported revealed, “The harshest punishments for drug crime in 2018 were primarily allocated to persons convicted of trafficking in narcotics. This was four years’ imprisonment with fine for 18 persons, and three years’ imprisonment with fine for 45 persons.
“For 2018, the data indicate that three persons were convicted for cultivation and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with fine.”
The report, therefore, recommended that based on the numerical presentation, it can be said that the law enforcement agencies must exert more effort in identifying the persons responsible for the cultivation of cannabis, so they can be prosecuted for this crime as it is the prosecution rate is insignificant when compared to the figures for the number of eradications carried out in 2018.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Police Force Narcotics Branch made 275 narcotics seizures last year. This translates to 218 seizures for cannabis amounting to 504.55 kilograms, and 50 seizures for cocaine totalling 11.09 kilograms.
There were seven seizures of ecstasy yielding 0.47 kilograms. This amounts to a total of 516.11 KG of narcotics seized by police for 2018.
The Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU), on the other hand, made 59 seizures amounting to 718 kilograms. Of this total, 22 seizures were for cannabis equating to 545.78 kilograms of which 0.16 kilograms were cannabis seeds; 29 seizures were for cocaine totalling 171.58 kilograms.
In addition, CANU made eight seizures for drugs such as 0.304 kilograms of heroin, ecstasy totalling 0.533 kilogram, and methamphetamine totalling 0.1 kilogram.
The report recommends that the Guyana Police Force Narcotics Branch increase its manpower and strengthen its capacity to analyse trends in the drug trade to better target interventions. It was also recommended that the Narcotics Branch increase its budget to carry out daily operations.
According to the annual report, “Provide access to training opportunities for all law enforcement agencies in the area of capacity building, and intelligence gathering with an aim of reducing the transshipment of drugs through Guyana.”
It further recommends that, “funding should be invested in enhancing officers’ competency in the field specifically, documentation and following SOPs for seizure and arrest, interviewing and interrogation techniques, investigative skills, land surveying, bomb dismantling, etc.”
It was also suggested that based on the drug strategy, bilateral relationships should be built with Venezuela, Brazil, Suriname and Colombia with the aim of further reducing the transshipment of drugs into Guyana through the sharing of information and mutual assistance and that law enforcement agencies to focus their attention and resources on higher-level drug traffickers and violent offences.

 

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