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Venezuelan gang plunders $24M in raw gold, cash at Eteringbang
Kaieteur News – Workers of a 24-year-old Guyanese businessman were on Thursday held at gun point by a gang of heavily-armed Venezuelans as they invaded his home and carted off some $24M worth in raw gold and an undisclosed amount of cash.
A sectioned of the ransacked house. (GPF Photo)
One of the broken locks (GPF photo)
The businessman was identified as Leon Sam a fuel dealer within the Eteringbang community. According to police the seven-man gang attacked around 03:30hrs. Sam was not around at the time of the robbery but his workers were there in a separate building from his home. Information received by Kaieteur News is that the gunmen pulled up in a boat at the businessman’s landing and began their invasion.
Apart from sticking up his workers, they ripped off the locks from his doors and ransacked his house. Photos taken by police showed the businessman’s belongings were scattered on the floor. His closets and drawers were also ransacked.
The businessman’s landing (GPF photo)
Police reported that no shots were fired and none of his workers was harmed.
Kaieteur News was told that the gunmen escaped in their boat heading down the Cuyuni River. However, it is suspected that the gang might have come from El Dorado, a Venezuelan town located up the Cuyuni River. Gangs from the neighbouring country have over the years been harassing Guyanese businessmen and miners who ply their trade in the area. These gangs have even set up bases along the river on Venezuela’s shore and would frequently stop boats and demand that their owners pay them taxes in gold. The Guyana Police Force (GPF) have in the past stated that it would normally conduct joint patrols in the river to protect Guyanese citizens from these gangs but to date there are still reports of robbery and harassment from the Venezuelan criminal groups commonly known in the Cuyuni district as the Guerrillas and the “Sindicatos”
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