Gas station bombing not connected to similar, previous attacks – Hicken

Nov 15, 2025 News

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(Kaieteur News) – Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken, said the October 26 bombing of the Mobil Gas Station appears not to be linked to similar events that occurred earlier this year.

He said based on the investigations by the Guyana Police Force (GPF), there is no motive that points in the direction of collaboration between the accused and the other attacks. The commissioner then assured that tighter measures have been undertaken by the joint services.

“We’ve ramped up all the gaps that we have, and so now we have, as a giant service we can better be able to protect our country,” he said during a media engagement on Friday.

Asked whether a motive was determined for the gas station attack, Hicken relayed that he could not say at the time, as “the matter’s before the court.”

Three Guyanese and four Venezuelans were further remanded on November 13, when they appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court to face terrorism charges for the bombing of the Mobil Fuel Station on Regent and King Streets, which claimed the life of six-year-old Soraya Bourne and injured several others.

Appearing before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty were the accused: 33-year-old Venezuelan Daniel Alexander Ramirez Poedemo, 44-year-old Venezuelan Alexander Bettancourt, Venezuelan national Krystal LaCruz, and Guyanese national Johnny Boodram. Prosecutors presented additional disclosures, and another date was set for the submission of final documents.

Last week the suspects made their first appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court for the deadly attack.  Poedemo faced a separate charge of committing an act of terrorism on October 26, with intent to threaten the sovereignty and security of Guyana or to strike terror among the population. He allegedly used an explosive device at the Mobil Fuel Station at Regent and King Streets, Lacytown, Georgetown. He was not required to enter a plea to the indictable charge.

Bettancourt, LaCruz, and Boodram were jointly charged with aiding and abetting Poedemo in carrying out the bombing. They were also not required to enter pleas. All accused were remanded to prison, with the Guyanese defendants maintaining their innocence in the attack. All were unrepresented except Boodram.

Kaieteur News had reported that two of the Venezuelan suspects used a KFC food run as cover to scout the site before carrying out the attack.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum had told reporters at a press conference held at the Ministry of Home Affairs that Peodomo and his accomplice have some affiliation with a “gang in Venezuela known as ‘R’” which is linked to the Sindicato gang. The Sindicato gang has been linked to several violent cross-border crimes.

The crime chief said investigators learned that the explosive device was activated moments after the main suspect exited a car and walked into the Mobil Gas Station at Regent and King Streets, Georgetown. The powerful blast killed little Soraya Bourne and injured four others, including children and adults. Investigators have not disclosed the motive behind the attack and whether it was linked to organised transnational criminal activity.

Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) showed the suspect, clad in a blue jersey, what appeared to be black trousers and a khaki hat, entering the gas station and first attempting to place a bulky black bag in a bin located at a pump station. An attendant, who was seated there, forbade him from placing the bag in the bin. The man then ventured to the area of the fuel station where it is reported that cooking gas was stored. Shortly after, the car in which little Bourne and her family traveled in was seen slowly reversing before the bomb exploded causing the girl and her relatives to be pitched into the air.

On May 18 this year, two loud explosions sent shockwaves across the communities in the vicinity of East Ruimveldt during the wee hours of the morning.

Both explosions occurred at approximately 40 minutes after midnight – one at the East Ruimveldt Police Outpost, which blew the back gate and the second at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Substation located at Mandela Avenue, not too far away from the police outpost.

Security cameras mounted on buildings close to the police outpost at Vlissengen Square and East Front Road captured the moment the gate at the police outpost was blown off.

“A loud explosion originating from the southern side of the outpost rocked the compound,” police said in a statement, before adding that “a police rank (identified as a female) on duty at the time heard two distinct blasts, followed by debris impacting nearby rooftops.”

The female rank was not injured. She stepped outside to see what had happened and observed that the southern wall of the outpost’s concrete fence had been significantly damaged.

An alarm was raised, and other ranks of the GPF subsequently arrived and found out that the outpost’s metal gate, located on the southern side, was completely blown away.

“…And other parts of the outpost sustained structural damage,” police said.

Meanwhile, police said that the GPL Substation along Mandela Avenue was also damaged.

“The second site under investigation is the GPL Substation along Mandela Avenue, which also experienced suspicious damage around the same timeframe,” Police stated.

An investigation was launched. Early Saturday, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told Kaieteur News that an “improvised explosive device” might have been behind the blast at the East Ruimveldt Police Outpost.

“Police have recovered a quantity of bolts and nuts, along with debris of a shattered hard plastic container from the scene – (debris suspected to be components of the improvised explosive device),” the Crime Chief said.

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• bombing, Clifton Hicken, gas station, police, terrorists

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