Latest update February 24th, 2025 9:02 AM
CANU destroys over two tonnes of cocaine, other drugs
– Seized planes to be used by army, police
Kaieteur News – The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) along with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) yesterday destroyed two tonnes of illicit drugs that were seized over the last two years.
Among the illegal drugs burnt at a location in the vicinity of Homestretch Avenue were cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine.
The two Cessna planes seized by the Guyanese lawmen during recent drug bust operations
A CANU rank pouring flammable liquid over the illegal drugs
Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, standing alongside Deputy Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken, and Head of CANU, James Singh, witnessing the destruction of the narcotics
The illegal substances being consumed by flames
Overseeing the destruction of the illegal substances were Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Clifton Hicken, Head of CANU, James Singh, Head of the Narcotics Branch of GPF, Karl Wilson, and Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Administration, Calvin Brutus.
According to a release from the Force’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), Benn had highlighted that in recent times, successful drug busts were made at the Nine Miles Airstrip located at Issano in the Region Seven district, Potaro Region Eight, Orealla, Region Six, and Kwakwani, Region 10.
As a result of these busts, Benn reportedly noted that ranks were able to make significant seizures of drugs, planes and even captured the suspects transporting the illegal substances.
The minister had related too, that the seized planes would be put to use by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and GPF during future operations.
On September 13, 2020, joint services ranks had discovered two planes at Nine Miles, Issano. One was a 206 Cessna found at the Nine Miles Airstrip with three foreigners on board who had told the ranks that they had encountered mechanical difficulties and were forced to crash land.
They had told the ranks too, that another plane was travelling along with them but had crashed in the nearby jungle.
The ranks found that plane later, A Beechcraft, with a dead human body on board and 390 kilos of cocaine.
Ranks had moved to seize the drugs and detain the three men as suspected narco-traffickers. As it turned out one of them was a Brazilian National, Rafael Silveira Dias, who is wanted in Brazil for similar offences and money laundering.
He was convicted later by a magistrate at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court and jailed for trafficking cocaine.
His accomplices were slapped with illegal entry charges.
Months later, on May, 20, 2021, another Cessna aircraft bearing registration PT-SRR crash landed with half tonne of cocaine at Orealla located in Region Six.
The pilot and another individual onboard- both Brazilian Nationals – are currently on remand for drug trafficking.
Less than a month later, on June 15, 2021, a burnt out aircraft was found at a deserted area in Kwakwani, Region 10. No illegal cargo or persons were found, but CANU ranks believed that it was another plane that was being used to transport drugs from Brazil to Suriname.
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