How long has this been going on?

Sep 29, 2019 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

I have said before and I will say it again, apart from Stabroek Market, the most dangerous place in Guyana is the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. The airport is a frightening place, especially for departing passengers.
The authorities there do not understand the importance of creating a friendly environment for tourists. Many of the officials are sour-faced and rude. But it gets worse. The airport is now being viewed as a place in which someone can be framed for something they did not do.
This past week, a video surfaced of a woman being questioned by officials at the airport. The officials called the woman from out of the departure lounge and were accusing her of having marijuana in her luggage. She denied doing so and videoed the whole affair on her cellular phone. She kept asking why it was that the officers were speaking in low tones during their questioning of her.
What was extremely disturbing was the report that the officers had the bag with the marijuana in their possession. When someone is identified for a secondary examination, then the person’s luggage has to be examined in their presence. Their luggage should not be examined without them being present.
Anyone can plant marijuana or some other narcotic on a passenger by simply claiming that they found the substance in the person’s baggage. And that is the frightening part about travelling through the country’s main airport. Innocent persons can find themselves framed for something they did not do.
The officer in question was said to have refused to call his superior – something that the passenger demanded – and then, quite inexplicably told her that he was giving her a chance. Why would an officer of a law enforcement agency want to give a chance to someone who he claims was smuggling marijuana? Was this a chance or an attempted shakedown which went astray?
It is a criminal offence to attempt to frame someone for an offence for which the person is not guilty. It amounts to conspiracy, to allow someone allegedly found with an illegal substance to be let go. On both counts, the officer involved should have been charged. Instead, we are told that the person’s dismissal has been recommended.
We do not know how many other passengers may have suffered a similar fate as that passenger who was accused of having marijuana? Suppose that woman was placed before the court, how does she convince a court of law that she did not have what was claimed she had?
Was this the first time that something like this happened? Has it happened before to others who said nothing? The authorities have to get to the bottom of this issue. Because if they don’t, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport can find itself decertified as an international port. Foreign countries would not wish to do business with a country in which there is a risk of narcotics being planted on persons, or passengers being falsely accused of having marijuana.
There are cameras all around the airport. If indeed there was a bag discovered with marijuana in the woman’s luggage, this had to have been captured on camera. If it was not, then the airport is not up to international security standards and should be closed until the situation is remedied.
Video footage of what transpired in relation to the woman’s bag, from the time she entered the facility to the time it was placed on board the departing aircraft, should be available. The authorities should examine that footage to determine whether in fact marijuana was found in her luggage, and why it was not examined in her presence.
If it can be established that this was a shakedown of the female passenger, the person(s) involved should be placed before the court. And if it was the case – and this seems very doubtful – that a person with narcotics was given an opportunity to escape the law, then this would amount to a criminal offence.
The Minister of Public Security and the authorities of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport have to act swiftly to assure passengers that the airport is a safe place for travel, and that they would not be subjected to being falsely accused of trafficking in illegal substances or having narcotics planted in their luggage.
The Minister of Public Security must launch a comprehensive investigation into this matter. Otherwise, Guyana will find itself having its main airport decertified for international travel.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)

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