There should be heavier penalties for liquor smuggling

Dec 18, 2020 Letters

Dear Editor,

I read of Police Commander Keilhorn King of Region 9 and two other officers caught with the illicit ‘uncustomed’ liquor in a vehicle, offering to pay the duties and remaining on the job. There should be heavier penalties.
What is troubling is the treatment of Police Commander Keilhorn King contrasts sharply with Motie Dookie who was caught in a similar incident three years ago. Dookie, who was at the time in December 2017 head of the SWAT team, was also caught with uncustomed liquor; he was taken into police custody and charged. Then he was immediately sent on leave by the APNU led regime. Dookie was subsequently removed from his post. His liquor, dozens of cases of whiskey, was confiscated. Can GRA say what became of the liquor?
The King and Dookie incidents were identical, but the response from the police department, GRA, and Ministry of Home Affairs were different. Clearly, there was discriminatory treatment and handling of two identically placed matters. Is there different justice for different folks? There must be uniform enforcement of the law – penal code as well as fines and GRA actions. Justice must be ‘blind’ as I learnt in my constitutional law courses.
The law does not distinguish between two persons. People cannot be prosecuted and persecuted because they belong to a particular race or class or position or affiliation or support a different party or government. Everyone should be treated similarly under similar conditions when they break similar laws. GRA must dispense justice fairly. In addition to the police and law, the handling of both cases should also be matters for ERC and the Home Affairs Ministry.
The criminal justice system is not just it seems. There is need for stricter enforcement of the law across the country irrespective of ethnicity and political affiliation. Being a police officer does not give one the power to smuggle alcohol or any goods. There must be demonstrative effect in the response to dissuade such illegal activities. Otherwise, smugglers will not take the law seriously. Political and GRA connections should not excuse wrong doing. Otherwise, there would develop a mafia type enterprise that existed during the 1980s.
On the issue of confiscation of alcohol, back in 2014 and 2015, I recall reading in the papers of hundreds of cases of whiskey being seized for evading duties, smuggled into the country. These were kept in a government bond. After the change in administration in May 2015, the liquor disappeared for the victory celebration as well as for the 50th anniversary Independence Celebration in May 2016. There was supposed to be an investigation and people held accountable for disappearance of the whiskey. Can police and GRA advise on the status of the investigation?

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

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There should be heavier penalties for liquor smuggling

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